Bill's Wedding Mayhem!
by half-torn-butterfly-wing
Summary: When Harry is finally brought to the Burrow for Bill's wedding, he watches as relationships bubbling for 7 years finally explode... TIS COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

As he stared glumly out of the window Harry mentally kicked himself for the tenth time this summer.

'Why?' he thought, scowling into the rainy mist that had descended around Privet Drive, "Why didn't I ask Ron the _date _of the wedding?"

It had hit Harry the second he had slid into the Dursley's car two weeks ago that he had no idea when his final torturous stay withhis relations would be over. He'd sent Hedwig almost immediately as he stepped into the house, but to his great annoyance she hadn't yet returned- and frankly he was almost ready to pack his trunk and leave without anywhere to go to. Life at the Dursley's, though he could never have thought it, had reached an all time low. Despite how little they knew of the wizarding world,they were in no doubt that Harry was somehow the centre of danger, and had made him pay for it- eager to push him outof the house as soon as possible.

He hadn't told them about...Dumbledore.At the mere thought there was a sharp pain in Harry's stomach and he forced himself to think on something else. It didn't work. In need of a distraction he turned to polish his Firebolt, but had barely glasped the smooth wooden handle when-

CRASH!

Instinctively he clutched his wand, and ducked silently behind his bed, waiting with hundreds of confused thoughts passing through his mind-

'I've got protection' he thought wildly, "Dumbledore-he said- protection...'

**_"POTTER!" _**his Uncle bellowed from downstairs. With relief Harry loosened his wand. He doubted even his Uncle would be stupid enough to be indignant at the entrance of a death eater, or worse. The strange thought of Voldemort awkwardly apologising for an abrupt entrance into the Dursley's home made Harry snort with synical laughter, as he now curiously decended the stairs.

A muffled voice could be heard and he leapt down from the last step-

"I've come to collect Harry."

The statement was simple, the manner was calm, but the tone was icy. Daring to hope the familiar voice was who he thought, Harry thrust open the door. With a colossal bounce from his stomach he broke into a grin as Ginny stood, glaring at each Dursley in turn. She twisted her neck at the disturbance of the door opening, and her features softened immediately.

There was a moment where they stared at each other, then his Aunt ruffled haughtily and almost spat "and _what_ are you?" surveying Ginny with the deepest loathing.

Harry's temper twitched and exploded before Ginny had even raised an eyebrow.

" Don't talk to her like she's some kind of animal!I'm warning you. Try one more snide comment and I'll make you wish you hadn't."

Long gone were the days when this kind of comment would have earned him a week in his bedroom. His murderous tone had silenced the Dursley's, but Uncle Vernon's face was a dangerous shade of maroon- amongst the sandy colour of his hair where the fireplace had exploded on Ginny's entrance by Floo powder.

Without a word, a syllable of goodbye, Harry took Ginny's hand, picked up floo powder, threw it visciously into the fire and they said in unison-

"the Burrow!"

**It's a tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiny chapter but they get longer!**


	2. At the Burrow

As they emmerged, spluttering and in pain (they'd found out the hard way that the Floo network was not meant for two people to travel simultaneously within it) Harry quickly, yet reluctantly, let go of her hand. He'd ended it. He'd had to, for her safety. He couldn't just pretend that he hadn't. Ginny squeezed his arm slightly,and with a grim smile turned, flecks of ash still fixed in her hair, and strode up the stairs without another word. He watched her miserably, before jumping as he realised someone was next to him.

"Er... hello, Harry dear-" Mrs.Weasley wore the same warm smile fixed upon her face as usual, but it was mingled with a look of confusion he'd never seen before. Her eye's flickered to where his had been- watching Ginny dissapear. She gazed sharply back at the look that was still (guiltily) on Harry's face and her eyebrows shot up in suprise. To his relief however, whatever she had realised, she kept her mouth firmly shut on the matter- and within seconds was forcing soup down his throat with several alarmed observations on how thin he was looking.

"Ofcourse, I was somewhat... _suprised _when Ginny came to me at four in the morning and insisted she collected you- she was quite-ah, _insistant_- on the matter-" she glanced at Harry as she spoke, who briefly met her eyes then fixed them upon his soup, cheeks blazing. This seemed to confirm her ideas, and she swelled in emotion, a combination of happy yet anxious tears floated momentarily in the lids of her eyes before she croakily asked:

"well, ham pie for lunch?" He was about to nod when a stampede of soft clunks on the stairs meant someone was about to join them. Ron settled into a chair nearby, grinning- "only just found out you'd got here mate. Honestly, Ginny waited til she'd had a shower before she told m-"

He stopped abruptly and stared tentively at Harry. Apparently he'd heard about the breakup. Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat, coughed slightly and said in a too-cheerful-to-be-genuine voice, "you've been busy then I supose, preparing for the wedding?"

Thankfully, this small question resulted in a fifteen-minute rant from Mrs.Weasley on how much there was to be done, and by the time she'd finished Ron had obviously forgotten about Ginny and offered to heaveHarry's trunk upstairs. He'd reached perhaps the third step when he stopped, staring up the creaking stairs. The trunk slipped, burst open and a strange orange liquid in Harry's potions kit made his old transfiguration book explode. Harry gazed disparingly up at Ron as his tranfigurations book curled in the flames, but Ron only gave a small apologetic laugh, and moved quickly to allow Hermione to walk past. Her eyessoon settled on the mess beneath her.

"Oh Ron, _honestly_!" and with a quick flick of her wand Harry's socks wizzed past him and firmly settled back into his trunk, closely followed by his other items until it was more tidily packed than when he'd done it himself.

"Must have tripped, I guess-" Ron muttered, forgot about Harry's trunk entirely and began to stroll casually up the stairs, glancing back once at Hermione as she shut the latch on Harry's trunk with a slightly smug look on her face. Sighing, Harry pulled his things up on his own shoulder and began, puffing and panting, to haul them up himself. With Hermione's help they managed to reach thesecond floor before they collapsed, exhausted.

"You know," she said thoughtfully, once she'd caught her breath. "He's been so odd since I've arrived. Ron, I mean. Maybe it's just stress about the wedding, don't you think?" Although she gave him a strange look, as if she wanted him to provide a completely different reason. He shrugged, and with a slight frown she continued, "Well, Ginny seemed to think so anyway, she said-"

Another abrupt pause followed, as Hermione unvoluntarily clamped her hands around her mouth and looked sympathetically at Harry. There was silence for a good many moments.

"Suppose we should have another go atgetting thetrunk up?" Harry finally said, his voice strangelyhigh-pitched and casual. With a hasty nod,shepulled at it once more, looking unenthusiastically at the two other flights of stairs they had yet to conquer.

**Ok, I wasn't planning ending this here, because (yet again!) it's really short and isn't exactly a good place to end- but I just wanted to say a huge thanks for the reviews I've received so far!**

**Rogue Leader, you're completely right- I've always been useless at spelling, but I'll look out for it- thanks!**


	3. Gnomepulling!

It was early into the morning hours before Harry realised how tired he was. After hours explaining to Ron, Hermione and (to his great pain, relief, joy, embarassment and every other feeling associated with such a situation) Ginny, what he planned to do next year, their talk had been interupted by a screeching rendition of some terrible song by the Ghoul in the attic.

Reluctantly Hermione and Ginny departed to their own rooms leaving Harry and Ron to get into their beds, yawning uncontrollably. Harry was just starting to think of the ridiculous thoughts that inevitably appear near slumber- 'why is it _onions _never _sing_?' when the silence was broken by Ron's voice, incredibly alert and uncomfortable.

"...Harry?"

"yea-huhwhathmmm?" There was silence for a moment. Harry felt the need to articulate himself somewhat better, and tried again.

"Yeah, what's up?"

Another silence. Then in a sudden burst of incomprehensible words:

"I've- there's something you should... I mean something I need your help with...but I mean, you're going to go...well, what I mean is you'll be really, _majorly_, suprised- well, not even suprised, you might even- well- I don't know how you'll- but believe me I've-"

"Ron?" Harry interrupted irritably.

"Yes?" He replied wildly, eager to stop speaking.

"If there's something you need to...well, _say_, please go ahead-or let me sleep" Harry had a strange suspicion he knew what this confession would include,and the topic in question was currently sleeping in the room next door to them.

"The thing is..." Ron was picking his words carefully, "well, we're all very good friends, aren't we? I mean you, me...Hermione." The way he croaked her name could only mean that Harry was indeed right. With an evil grin at Ron's discomfort, Harry felt little guilt in the fact he was going to have a _lot _of fun hearing this.  
"Yep, we are. All of us. Why do you ask?"

"Well, when you and Ginny got together-" Harry frowned in the dark as his chest jerked uncomfortably, "it was brilliant- I mean, nothing changed really. So, whatever happened we'd all be great, great friends. The thing is-" Ron made a strange, inaudible muttering followed by a large sigh.

"Oh never mind."

Thoughts about singing onions had again entered Harry's dozing mind, and he thought the subject could wait until morning, when he could give Ron his full attention...

... plus the fact when he was more awake he'd think of better ways to make Ron feel uncomfortable.

The next morning Mrs Weasley kindly requested that they de-gnome the garden, with only two days until the wedding she was getting somewhat tense-

"RON! If you don't go out there THIS INSTANT I'll- I'll" She picked up her wand and the potatoes she'd been so carefully peeling were now pelting hastily towards Ron's head. With a strangled yell he ducked and ran out of the door into the safety of the garden. Harry observed Hermione share an exasperated look with Mrs.Weasley before they too followed him out.

Harry's eyes opened in suprise as he walked through the archway into the Weasley's garden. What had been a large patch of grass was now elaborately decorated with Rose bushes and elegant statues of embracing wizards shooting arrows towards the sky, and a man Harry had never seen before was trying to make silver ribbons form into _"Eternal Joy"_ over a fountain of pink gurgling water. The only trouble was the ribbons seemed to object, and each time the man turned his back to do something else they'd either tangle or form the words _"Eat all the Jelly". _Harry momentarily saw two identical heads grin and dissapear behind a tree, and he had a sneeking suspicion the ribbons might not have been acting by their own will.

Hermione stopped by the fountain and scanned the area, then with a sudden cry-

"Found one! By the statue of the wizard holding a dove-" Sure enough, a small, leathery-textured gnome was gnawing cunningly on the dove's head, making the statue frown and it's gold coat began to rust alarmingly quickly.  
"Oh great, it's annoyed- mum'll go mad if she has to replace it" Ron strode over and pulled the gnome forcefully around his shoulder, then into a spin. He was about to let go when he became off balance and instead the gnome landed with a huge splash in the newly created emerald pond next to them, causing the bewitched swans in it to cause an excessive amount of noise and flap everywhere.

As Hermione and Ginny rushed over to soothe the five hassled birds, Ron scowled and turned away. "_Fantastic._ Now she'll think I'm an idiot again."  
Remembering their conversation from the previous evening, Harry battled to supress a smile. "Hmm? Who thinks you're an idiot?"

Ron, having obviously forgotten Harry was present, jumped- but within moments a strange firm look of resolve crossed his face. Without a word he grabbed Harry's arms and led him behind a large metal statue of a kitten, who occasionally quoted in a speaky voice famous love speeches. They were greeted with, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" to which Ron gave such a look it was indicated he would very much like to treat the kitten in the same way as a gnome.

They sank to the ground to avoid detection, and, finally satisfied they couldn't be heard, Ron spoke in whispered tones-" The thing is Harry, I like someone. I mean _really_ like.A friend of ours. I'm worried you'll- well- react badly. But-" his voice became strangled in desperarion"seriously mate, you have to help me stop it. I've tried everything to snap out of it, but I can't."

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Have you been swallowing more love potion of late? You know Fred and George have probably filled every bottle in this house with it-"

"No! Harry-I'm serious-"

"You said that last time you were under it-"

Ron gave such a glare that even Harry thought this was enough on the matter. "Well, ok then. You like someone- who?"

The simple question led Ron into flustered alarm, he played with his hands, began several times but stopped quickly at each attempt.

"We're very good friends." He finished lamely.

"Lavender? Geesh Ron, you didn't like her then, what makes you think she's changed?"

"I-what? No!" he waved his hand dismissively, "It's not something I think you'll approve of, but I can't help-"

Once more Harry gleefully interrupted, "If you mean Parvati" He said seriously, "Don't worry about it. Just because I took her to the Yule Ball doesn't mean I have any qualms about you-"

"It's not her either! I give in!" He made to stand up, but Harry began quickly, "I think I understand- it's just so incredibly difficult to believe, that's all."

Ron turned sharply to him, "Y-you do?"

Harry nodded, "but you know, in a strange way I saw it coming... Luna always _did _seem fond of you."

Ron stared blankly at him momentarily, then with a cry of exasperation he exclaimed "IT'S HERMIONE,OK!"He then realised how loud this had been, seeing as the kitten clamped it's paws around it's ears, and Ron's voice echoed around the garden. He sank to the floor, looking mortified at his knees, then put his arms around his head. When he spoke, Harry could barely distinguish many words through the fact Ron was talking into his knees, not daring to look at Harry.

"...know you'll be shocked...tried to stop it...but...going on for years now...not sure how it happened...doesn't like...she obviously likes Krum...just can't stop..._best friends!_" He finally looked up warily at Harry's reaction, and was amazed to see he was shaking with repressed laughter.  
"What!" He said defensively, "Think the secret I've kept from everyone for years is funny, do you?" Harry only laughed harder at the statement, and Ron was about to leave angrilly before he could finally speak.

"I've known for ages, Ron! It's so obvious, I wouldn't be suprised if your mum hadn't ordered this kitten for _your_ wedding!"

Ron turned white, as he gazed horrified at Harry- "It's obvious? Do you think_ Hermione_ knows?"

"Do I know what?" said a voice, as Hermione appeared around the kittens head, staring down at them intently, "and why are you sitting on the floor? We're meant to be de-gnoming!" Harry had never seen Ron jump up quite so fast- "what're doing, listening to us like that!" he said angrily.

Hermione's eyes narrowed "What do you mean, _listening_? You just yelled my name out really loud, and now you're asking if I know something! I was hardly eagerly spying on you, was I?" Her voice was cool, and she turned away annoyed, luckily obscuring her from seeing Ron's look of panic.

His arms flailed for a moment, then- "The reason I yelled your name was that, well, Harry thought a blade of grass on the floor looked like Percy, but I thought it...looked like you." He cringed at his own useless explanation, and needless to say it hadn't fooled Hermione. She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more on the matter.

"Back to the gnomes?" Harry suggested finally, and they got up and walked silently back to the main part of the garden. Hermione had just spotted two gnomes pulling all the blossom off a tree, when Mrs.Weasley came bustling out, looking hassled-

"Someone's here to see you all, he's _two days _early, honestly- no consideration for the poor family who have to organise the whole thing- I'm going to have turned grey by the time this is all finished, I swear" and with more mumblings she dashed inside the house once more. Curiously, Hermione followed, leaving Harry and Ron facing each other.

"I think" said Harry, genuinely this time, "you might as well say something. If she thinks it's crazy and repulsive, you can always lie and say it _was_ love potion"

"What a comforting thought." Ron spat irritably. He thought whilst they headed towards the house, "Maybe...maybe I might then...you know, after the wedding I might casually mention it to her." Harry doubted whether such a thing could be done casually, but he looked on the whole matter fairly optimistically. Well, that was until they stepped into the door, and heard Hermione excitedly exclaim:

"Viktor, you're here! I don't _believe_ it!"

**Length! Hurray! There is a point to this somewhere- it'll appear eventually...**


	4. Tension Where!

Ron had backed out of the door and vanished into the garden before Harry could even see his reaction. Sure enough, Viktor Krum stood looking strangely out of place in the Weasley's comfy kitchen, wrapped in fur and smiling awkwardly. Hermione was almost bouncing in excitement, and turned to Harry expectantly. Following her silent orders, Harry stepped forward and held up his hand in a small wave. This seemed a little inadequate for Hermione's liking and she tilted her head forcefully in Viktor's direction, loudly saying,"Isn't it's _great _he's here, Harry?"

"Yeah...why _are_ you here exactly Krum?" Harry spoke a little more harshly than he'd intended, but he was feeling quite indignant on Ron's behalf. This resulted in confused looks from everyone present, so he quickly modified his accusatory tone, "I mean- erm, it's been a long time since I've seen you... great suprise!" He glanced at Hermione for approval of this amendment, and she nodded curtly in satisfaction.

Krum removed his large fur coat and handed it to a waiting Mrs. Weasley, who Harry detected was still fairly annoyed at Viktor's impromptu arrival. Even though her face was now covered in a mass of fur her body was rigid and discontent mutterings were emmiting from it's hefty material.

Harry was therefore quite positive her temper was not soothed when her lack of vision sent Mrs.Weasley flying over an unsuspecting Crookshanks, who sprang onto the table in panic and sent Wedding cake mixture splattering in every direction.

Krum, wiping various smears of egg and butter from his face, moved forward and addressed Harry directly, ignoring completely Mrs.Weasley's crumpled mass on the floor- where she now looked like a hairy swamp monster. "I hav beenvriting with Fleur since the last time ve met. Ve are goodfriends." Seeming to think this was explaination enough after Harry's odd greeting, Krum turned immediately to Hermione, his face breaking into a genuine smile.

"Hermininny, I hav travelled by many of the apparations. Shall ve valk around the garden?"

It was several minutes after they'd left before Mrs.Weasley managed to free herself from the giant coat, her hair sprouting wildly in all different directions.

"_Humph!_"was the only comment she could make for quite some time.

As dusk fell, Ron still hadn't appeared, so Harry began to conduct a search around the dimly lit garden. The strange man was still battling with the ribbons, which could now only manage _"Where's my goat?" _before they collapsed in a heap on the floor. Harry approached the exasperated man with caution, observing flecks of brightpurple amongst his curling grey hair.

"Sorry to bother you, but you wouldn't have seen Ron around by any chance?"

The man peered at Harry through his square spectacles- "Good grief, which one's he again? It's terrible, can't even remember how old he is, and I've been their neighbour for twenty years! There's just so darned many of them, you know?" he chuckled somewhat at his own observation before looking thoughtful.

"He's not one of the twins-" Harry interjected, hoping this would help. The man chuckled again, and bent down to Harry.

"I may not be too good at 'membering them all, but _no one _forgets Fred and George... for some reason." He winked and contemplated once more, "Ron...youngest lad, is he? Out here earlier de-gnoming?"

"That's him!" Harry said eagerly, "Do you know where he went?"

The man's brow creased "Came out here on his own just a while ago, ridding the place of the gnomes good and proper! There's no chance we'll be seeing them for awhile- there's an actual dint in the blossom tree where he smashed their heads repeatedly. Now I'm no fan of the creatures, but you couldn't help feel sorry for them, he looked ready to destroy anything that came within a metre! Hey-"His eyes widened and floated to Harry's scar,"aren't you Harry Potter?"

Harry could do nothing but smile uncomfortably in response, and hastily said "Thanks!" before darting to look behind the kitten, just incase.

It was only when Harry stumbled into their room did he finally see Ron, facing the wall with his shoulders sagging. Coughing to make his presence known, Harry sat carefully on his own bed. Ron jumped slightly and turned. "Ah, hey Harry mate!"

Even a Pygmy Puff who had never encountered a lie before could've told that Ron's voice was anything but normal. Harry thought he may as well cut to the point, then on second thoughts his awareness that Ron looked ready to jump out the window made him decide to take a more subtle route.

"Didn't see you at dinner- your mum made some great pork chops!"

"Yeah?" Ron said half-heartedly, "She's brilliant at making them. That and apple pie."

"Yes. Apple Pie..."Harry could see that, riveting as Pork chops were as a means of conversation, they weren't getting very far. Finally, preparing to grab Ron to stop any actions involving the open window Harry quickly said, "So-Hermione."

Ron made a face of mock curiousity and then recognition. "Ah! _That_. About before, Harry-you should really just forget anything I may have said, I'm pretty sure that Fred and George put a few drops of something in my drink today and-

Harry's raised eyebrow silenced him. Suddenly the door creaked open and Mrs.Weasley strode in, holding various blankets within her grip. She carefully placed them on the floor, before beckoning to someone outside. "I know it's on the floor, Viktor, but it should be comfortable enough- limited space I'm afraid, but you know Harry well ofcourse so-" Ron, who had a clear view of the door, looked as though his eyes had swelled to twice their size as he clenched his fists tightly.

"Vhy thank you, Mrs.Veasy" Krum said politely, and edged into the room, looking remarkably unimpressed by the various waving 'Chudley Cannon' posters lining Ron's wall.

As Mrs.Weasley closed the door, she seemed to suck out every friendly emotion with her. To Harry's suprise, the second thatKrum laid his eyes on Ron his expression changed to exactly the same frown, exactly the same gritted teeth, and Harry was certain he could feel the heat radiating from Ron's bright red ears.

"Ah. You vere the boy that _begged _for my signature, yes?" Krum's voice was uncharacteristically snide, and Harry wasnonplussed as to why, until- "Hermininny talks of you much."

Ron, who's face had transgressed through various stages of purple as Viktor talked, spoke through such clenched teeth Harry marvelled at the fact they hadn't shattered due to the pressure. "Really? I must have _lost_ the signature. It was only a scrappy piece of parchment anyway, nothing worth _thinking_ about." Harry didn't dare to point out thata remarkably similar piece of parchment was in shreds directly under Ron's feet, looking like it had been stamped on repeatedly.

They both stood silently, and Harry felt the mere whispering of Hermione's name would cause The Burrow to implode, unable to stand the compressed jealousy that was fizzing like electricity between the two.

Harry quietly slipped into bed, resigned to the fact he'd have to keep his eyes open all night, for he worried that if he didn't, either one could be transfigured into a strange form of chicken by morning.

**Is this still short? I know not! Can I just say a huge thanks for all the reviews, I'm sitting here smiling ridiculously considering it's 4.23am (I'm an insomniac apparently...either that or I've drank too much coffee!) - so thanks sooooo much to everyone. I've taken your points into account aswell- just to say, I don't know if it happens with yours but whenever I save it some of the words suddenly stick together (like magic!... ok, forgive me, the hour is late.) . ..just incase you werewondering why I can't use the space bar properly (mind you, with all the diabolical spelling mistakes I've made I wouldn't blame you for a presumption I couldn't use the keyboard!) But aye. Spelling- gah! **

**I know I'm not really focusing on the proper plot (e.g a certain matter of Horcruxes) but I swear if I tried suddenly the Burrow would sprout wings and Percy would be Voldemort's personal shoe cleaner and other such bizzare happenings, so I guess it's best if I stay away from that for now...**

**(p.s the expressions'Holy moly' and 'Evil Fiend' are amongst the best in existence, and I'm so glad there are folk who saythem too! Huzzah!) -yet again, 4.30am...my apologies.**


	5. Baboom

* * *

Harry awoke with a start the next morning,and turned quickly to check Ron had not been made into congealed purple goo overnight. Fortunately, Ron was still whole, and was currently sitting pulling on bright orange socks over the side of his bed. Harry turned automatically to see if Krum was still sleeping, but to his alarm the bedding lay vacant on the floor with no occupant. 

"Ron! _Please_ don't tell me you vanished Krum!" Harry groaned, staring desperately at the ginger head that looked up defiantly.

" 'Course I didn't!" Ron said indignantly, then giving a sigh he admitted "Tried, though. I only managed up to his left elbow before he woke up and I had to pretend I was-" He wrinkled his nose, "_sleep-spell-making_"

Harry snorted, "I'm sure he had no doubt in believing_ that_ one, what did you do, snore between speaking the incantation?"  
Harry could only but sigh as Ron nodded sheepishly. Then, jumping up, Ron pulled Harry out of his bed- "listen, we've got to go downstairs, Bill's here!"

Five minutes later Harry hopped onto the landing outside Ron's bedroom, trying desperately to retain balance as he pulled on his own final sock. Just as he'd managed the task and let out a triumphant "AHA!" He slammed straight into Hermione, who was almost thrown backwards down the stairs she had just appeared from. She gasped in suprise, reached out for something to steady her and clutched Harry's shirt, which ripped instantly.

Ginny opened the door behind them and tilted her head curiously at the sight of Hermione standing with the remainder of Harry's shirt in her arms. Grinning at the embarassed look on Harry's face, she said lightly as she strolled past- "You know just because we've broken up Harry, doesn't mean you can throw yourself at _everyone,_" and with a final wink she went down to breakfast.

Only consideration for the fact Harry looked so miserable stopped Hermione laughing quite so loudly, but her face suddenly changed as another door opened, and Ron came strolling out. He looked up in suprise at the two, but recovered quickly an icy countenence and began to descend the stairs.

"Ron, wait, I came to get you- Bill's here!" Hermione called, looking hurt and confused by his reception of her.

"I know." Was the simple reply, and Ron removed himself from their sight.

Hermione stood perplexed for a moment, then rounded on Harry, "have you two argued?"

"No! Why would we have?"

She bit her lip in thought, "Why is acting odd then? I was looking everywhere for him yesterday..." She continued to make inaudible mutterings to herself until they entered the garden, where she gave a sharp gasp ofhorror as she saw Bill and Fleur for the first time.

It took a few moments for Harry to recognise Bill himself, three deep slashes covered and distorted his face grotesquely. One of his once brilliantly blue eyes was clouded over with a hideous type of mouldy skin, and long hairs sprouted from his ears and chin. When he grinned at Harry in greeting wickedly sharp teeth poked through, and Harry gave an involuntary shudder.

"It's...well...it's great Mum." Bill said somewhat unenthusiastically, staring at the dazzling array of frills and glitter that formed the decoration for his wedding. "Very..._ah_-pink." Yet next to Bill, Fleur was clapping in frantic excitement.

"Oh, Molee! It eez perfect!" and she stroked Bill's coarse hair lovingly, "I cannot wait for my mozer to see this!" Her eager eyes then settled on Hermione, and she poked Bill in the ribs and pointed to her. With a sudden dawning realisation at what she wanted, Bill moved forward.

"Erm, Hermione? Can I ask a huge favour? It's just that, well- earlier Fleur kind of argued with her maid of honour- her Veela cousin. It's just that...when Veela's get angry they tend to-" he indicated to a large tree next to them which Harry noticed had a large scorch mark on it. "We don't think she'll be back any time soon... and that leaves us without a maid of honour."

Hermione looked shocked as she realised what they were asking, and said rather ungraciously, "You don't know me, though. At all. Why me? Why not Gabrielle, or even Ginny?"

Fleur looked impatient, "Zey are too pretty, zey would detract from me as zee beautiful Bride!"

"Hey! She's standing _right_ next to you!" Ron spat angrilly, in a way Harry never thought he would direct at Fleur. "Besides, Hermione's beautif-"Ron stopped abruptly at the shocked faces his outburst had produced, and with a swift, embarassed glance at Hermione he stuttered, "I mean she's not _that_ bad looking, is she really?" His voice was a mere whisper by this point. Hermione turned away sharply, so Harry couldn't see her reaction- but in a very small voice she said, "I'll do it." Then walked quickly into the house.

As if there had been no interruption, Fleur turned to Ron- "And 'ee is ze best man?" Bill nodded, then his brow creased-  
"Hows the binding coming along, bro?"  
Ron shifted uncomfortably, and in response to Harry's quizzical looks explained, "In wizard marriages the best man has to perform this complex love binding spell to complete the ceremony... trouble is," He said in lower tones so that only Bill and Harry could hear, "The best man has to be feeling love and contentment at the time, and every time I've practiced-" Ron pointed at a tree and muttered a spell. With a great blue streak the spell hit the tree and chopped it straight in half, causing Fleur to leap for saftey before she was crushed. Her beautiful face distorted with anger, she screeched-

" 'Ee cannot do eet! We will be seezzled before our 'oneymoon! 'Ee cannot do zee spell- what shall we do!"

Her panic was interupted by an awkward yet confident voice, "I vil do it, if you vant?" Viktor had appeared behind them, smiling slightly.

"No WAY!" Ron protested, but Fleur was in raptures, "Oh Veektor! Zat would be perfect!" and without another word on the matter they all disappeared inside, leaving Bill staring apologetically at Ron.

"Hey, how about you're still my best man, he just does this spell at the end?" Bill suggested, but to no avail. Ron looked crestfallen at his elder brother before turning. "No thanks, everyone thinks I'm enough of a moron already without demonstrating how _feeble _my magical ability is aswell." With that he strode off angrilly, kicking a harp-playing cherub as he went.


	6. The Wedding!

**This chapter's going to be a tad looong, but I hope it's it's ok- (indeed, it is again the early hours of the morning, but with such threats of being poked and commiting unintended manslaughter I thought I'd best finish it tonight...)**

Harry had fallen asleep before Ron had appeared that evening, and when he awoke the 'Chudley Cannons' blanket covering Ron's bed was untouched.

Krum shifted silently in slumber as Harry gently clambered onto Ron's bed to peer out of the window, hoping his prediction wouldn't be right. Unfortunately, it was. Lying on the grass, fully dressed with loud snores echoing around the garden, was Ron. With a groan, Harry sprinted from the room and lightly down the stairs. Daybreak was only just creeping up around the Burrow, and Harry was hoping nobody would be awake but himself.

A few minutes later, with several encouraging foot-proddings, Ron awoke and sat up quickly, wildly exclaiming- "How many eggs in the Butterbeer?"His unfocused eyes darted to Harry, then finally scanned his own, dirt-covered body.

"Ah." he said finally.

"Care to explain this?" Harry folded his arms sternly.

"You know, you sound so much like Hermio-" It appeared Ron's memory had suddenly caught up with him, "_Ah." _He repeated darkly.

"You do realise I hope, that in less than-" Harry checked his watch- "four hours, every relative you have will be ascending on this plot of land, and you currently resemble an enlarged garden gnome?"

Ron scowled, but merely indicated to Harry to help him up. It soon became apparent that the Cherub Ron kicked the previous evening had sought revenge in the night, and several small angelic arrows fastened Ron's trousers to the ground, excessively resistant to being removed.

"It's no use," moaned Ginny, who, having laughed for a solid twenty minutes together on discovering Ron, was now panting in exhaustion as she pulled at Ron's legs.

"There's no other option, we'll have to tear them off-" Harry said wearily, "I'll go get you another pair ready-"

"What! You can't do that in the middle of the garden- _anyone _could see!" Ron cried anxiously, clutching his trousers protectively.

"We can hardly leave you stapled to the ground, can we?" Ginny snapped, "Great wedding photo that would be, you trying to reach for a bit of cake whilst Aunt Muriel accidentally stood on you. It's your own daft fault for making an enemy of-" She fought hard to contain a smile," a chubby baby with feathered wings..."

"Oh shut up!" Ron snarled. "Alright- someone just block me from the house so no one will see, ok?" he said reluctantly as Harry returned with a fresh pair of grey trousers.

"I'll do it-" Ginny said, moving forward.

"No way! You're my _sister_- I don't want you seeing me in underwear!"

"Fine,_ I'll_ do it." Harry replaced Ginny, his patience waning.

"But you're my best mate, that'd be wierd!"

"Oh for goodness _sakes" _a third voice said exasperatedly, and Hermione appeared behind them all. "Don''t be so, so-_squeamish_ Ron"

Before Ron could gasp a syllable of alarmed protest she raised her wand and yelled, "_Silicio Separitum" _

With a colossal ripping noise, strands of Ron's trousers peeled away from him, leaving startlingly bright orange boxer shorts. As soon as his legs were free Ron snatched his trousers from Harry and dived behind the bubbling fountain.

Ginny chuckled, Harry grinned, but Hermione turned a bright shade of red and said stiffly- "Well, we've wasted enough time out here- better help getting things organised..." and she turned quickly on her heels and stumbled back into the kitchen, looking oddly distracted.

"Is she gone yet?" squeaked Ron, his red ears appearing amidst the pink fountain,everything about himprojectinghumiliation.

The next few hours passed in a haze of rush, panic and Mr.Weasley hiding from his wife, who was so close to the point of madness trying to organise everyone that Harry quickly looked up a few sedative charms...just incase.

Ron was, though Harry hadn't thought it possible, in a more hostile mood than before. It seemed every female relative that arrived was drawn like a magnet to him, fussing over every element of his figure. By the time he managed to escape, Ron had,despite protests, received seven kisses on the cheek from various wrinkle-lipped Aunts and eight ruffles of his hair by proud second-uncles-twice-removed.

"I've never seen half these people before, but they just automatically_ fawn_ over me!" He said in disgust, trying to flatten his now statically flambuoyant hair. Ginny too, seemed to be attracting much unwanted attention by being a rare girl amongst a long line of brothers, and Harry could swear he saw her ignite Crookshanks tail deliberately so she had an excuse to escape the raptures of her Aunt Ethel.

Eventually by dusk, everyone was settled comfortably into the glistening crystal chairs which had suddenly filled the garden since Harry had last visited it. He was also astonished to find that over three hundred chairs had been slotted into a garden that only hours ago would barely have held fifty.

Wizards of every sort, varying in age and nationality filled each slot, and Harry gazed in wonder at such a strange asortment. With a slight scowl he saw Percy sneak into one of the back seats, but before he could mention it to Ginny (who was positioned innocently next to him by Mrs.Weasley's direction) there was a loud burst of a sweet, lulling tune which seemed to be coming from the swans. Before their eyes several examples of Fred and George's most ingenious firework concoctions exploded infront of them, and the doors to the archway right at the back of the garden swung open, revealing Bill and Fleur.

This was a slightly different procedure to Muggle weddings, as far as Harry could tell. For a start, Bill produced his Patronus, a giant bear, and sat on it's broad shoulders as he travelled down the aisle, with several cheers from their audience. Fleur then soared above their heads looking truly stunning in a long silvery gown that although she was ten feet up in the air trailed along the floor below. It was a true mark of Ron's bad mood that his eyes did not even widen slightly at the sight of her. The young Gabrielle followed, throwing flower petals everywhere, most of which were enchanted to remain floating- consequently resulting in Harry swallowing a large quantity of white Roses.

Harry was just mastering a coughing fit, when he heard Ron take a sharp intake of breath, and he twisted his neck around to see what was the problem.

Hermione was walking along beaming in a floaty blue gown, her hair curling elegantly down her back. Harry glanced briefly at Fleur who to his amusement was scowling at the arrival of her Maid of Honour, who was obviously more beautiful than at first anticipated. Ron's scowl reappeared at the sight of Krum, who positioned himself behind Bill- and to Ron's disgust, right next to Hermione.

The ceremony was suprisingly short, and the slightly odd "Joiner" of the two, who Harry supposed was rather like a Priest, felt the need to shoot wisps of gold glitter into the air whenever he finished a sentence. Finally, they were pronounced Husband and Wife, and everyone around Harry became animate in clapping and hugging each other. Ginny's hug lasted slightly longer than one would have considered necessary, but Harry was by no means complaining.

Harry turned to congratulate Mrs.Weasley, but Molly was sobbing so uncontrollably she was making the whole row of chairs shake. Mr.Weasley stroked her hair in alarm- "There, there, Molly- it's all gone splendid"

"_My little Billy_!" She wailed through a mass of tears, "All grown up and s-s-so HAPPY!" and she burst into a new flood of tears.

"Now all that's left is the Binding blessing-" Ginny whispered so that Ron couldn't hear. She needn't have bothered, because Ron's eyes were fixed on something else, something that was making his face turn an extremely unnatural colour. Before could ask him what was wrong he shouted-

"_**OI**_!" Viktor and Hermione froze mid-hug, and she looked curiously up, when on seeing Ron's faced she scowled. "What?" She hissed, accutely aware almost half the attendants of the wedding had gone silent at Ron's outburst.

"Stop-_ CAVORTING _infront of everyone- you're- you're detracting from my brother's wedding, and I... won't have it." Ron finished lamely.

Hermione snapped away from Viktor, and scoffed loudly, forgetting that over three hundred people's eyes were on her.

"Cavorting? What on Earth are you talking about? He's the best man- we were just _celebrating..."_

"Yeah right, the only two people who were 'celebrating' like you were are Bill and Fleur, and incase you haven't noticed- they're married!"

Harry couldn't bear to watch. With a groan Ginny clamped her hands over her eyes, and the sobs from Mrs.Weasley's direction subsided to be replaced by a disbelieving stare towards her youngest son.

Bill seemed excessively diverted, he leaned back casually to observe the spectacle- Fleur on the other hand looked murderous. She was hissing in the Joiner's ear to continue with the ceremony, but by this point he had spouted so much gold glitter mist he was struggling to see her.

Hermione had by now marched over to Ron, her face twisted in anger.

"I don't know what your problem is, _Ronald. _You always choose the most brilliant times to make a fool of yourself, don't you?"

Ron's face showed a shimmer of hurt, but it snapped back to rage in an instant, "At least I'm not walking around like a doting puppy after some twisted-nosed, scowling idiot-" Krum moved forward angrily, but with a particularly violent hand gesture Hermione stopped him, her voice raising to a deafening level.

"You're right," she screeched, her nose almost touched Ron's now, "You're too busy being cowardly-couldn't even leave your dear _Lav-Lav_- you had to wait until _she _did it. Have you ever actually done anything impulsive or decisive in your life?"

"YOU WANT IMPULSIVE?"Ron hollered, and grabbed Hermione so suddenly she couldn't even gasp in suprise before he attached his lips firmly to hers.

There was utter silence, even the swans had stopped paddling round the pond. As Ron and Hermione finally broke apart Harry couldn't help but say to Ginny-

"-and to think, he wanted to tell her _casually_."

Within moments Fred and George were whooping and clapping with glee, whereas Fleur's voice was now echoing madly "It eez my wedding day! Zis is a disgrace! We have not even been binded yet!"

Krum, who looked as if every thought he had was bent towards punching Ron, distractedly pointed his wand and cast the spell. Unfortunately the effect was similar to Ron's previous attempt, and Fleur's hair caught on fire. She screamed, and although Bill put it out before it could do much damage, Fleur was beside herself with distress.

Charlie Weasley came running suddenly up the aisle, performed the spell effectively and light blue bands stretched momentarily accross both Fleur and Bill, before they were transported to the top of Charlie's tamed dragon. As it flew them away to their Honeymoon destination, Harry couldn't help note the "Just Married" sign attached loosely to the dragon's tail as itdissapeared into the sunset.

Daring not to look at either Hermione or Ron, who both looked like they wanted nothing more thana giant flobberworm to come along and digest them, Mr.Weasley croaked, "Well... Shall we have cake and champagne?"

**A few more chapters left yet, but I'm almost done, I promise.**


	7. Howler's galore!

"Do me a favour, would you Harry? Could you get into You-Know-Who's mind again and reserve one Killing Curse in the name of Ron Weasley? Make sure you spell it right so there's no mistake, ok? R-O-N-"

"Oh shut up Ron, it's not _that..._" Harry couldn't finish the sentence. It was one of those rare instances where it really _was _that bad.

Ron groaned in agonised embarassment and pulled his pillow over his head.

"Listen, I'm sure if you just talked to Hermione then-"

"Oh no, no-_no_! There's no way I can even look at her now."

"Well, that's alright," Harry reasoned, thinking carefully, "If we just persuade her to wear the invisibilty cloak over her head for the rest of her life you'll be fine..."

With a cry of anguish the ginger head sunk into the pillow once more, but Harry could just about decipher "Oooeeeug! Whaa wosh I thinkib?"

Ron showed no sign of moving for a good few days at least, so with a defeated sigh Harry went downstairs.

Estranged relatives had fled shortly after the Wedding buffet had been demolished, and whilst their hearty appreciation had kept Mrs.Weasley satisfied at the time, the task of tidying was colossal. Every morning without fail, she could be seen tirelessly trying to persuade the army of Cherubs they needed to move away. What she hadn't bargined on was the fact the decorations had become quite accustomed to the garden, and were in no rush to leave. This problem continued for such a long time that Harry had been woken on several occasions by a tremendous _BOOM _which shook the house. This was often quickly followed by a golden statue soaring past Ron's window into the sky, Mrs.Weasley's voice triumphantly calling after it- "AHA! Take _THAT!_"

What had occured during the Wedding between Ron and Hermione had unspokenly become a subject of taboo. Everytime the topic was even touched upon Mr.Weasley would start talking of the magnificent way Charlie had managed to train his dragon to be so very obediant, or Ginny would (rather insincerly) comment on how very "..._nice_." Fleur looked.

All that remained now was to extract either Ron or Hermione from their rooms. Ginny had discovered on inspection that no less than one hundred and eighty five magical locking devices had been placed on Hermione's door, fourty nine of which had the ability to remove limbs if necessary. On the rare split-second occasions where Harry had spotted Hermione- such as when she apparated into the kitchen, grabbed her plate, and apparated away again- he had never seen her look worse. The only part of her face that could be spotted behind her matted hair was two puffy red bumps where her eyes had once been, the result of crying without rest for at least four days solid.

"But why _is_ she crying?" Harry muttered to Ginny, as they tried to force the resillient swans into cages one evening, "He's kissed her, right? From what you've told me she likes him too, so why-" he finished with a bite of impatience, "are two of my best friends still not talking?".

Ginny, dodging several flapping wings in the process, gave a sigh that signalled to Harry having a small comprehension of girls was once more a disadvantage.

"Hermione has liked Ron for a very, _very_ long time. However-" She stiffened her voice and added an accent that was identical to Hermione's, "_ 'He's my best friend- I couldn't, I mean is it such a good idea? Sometimes he can be so stupid, so ridiculous, but at the same time- oh, I just don't know- I can never tell whether he means it or whether he was just angry and wanted to get back at me!'" _Ginny then proceded to mime hysterical sobs, exactly like those constantly emmiting from Hermione's room.

The concept was far too much for Harry, and he gazed at Ginny with his mouth hanging open in confusion for a moment-"Well that's just stupid! Ofcourse he meant it, or he wouldn't have _done_ it, would he?"

Ginny sighed sympathetically again at Harry's lack of understanding, then added- "And there's the fact she's embarassed herself infront of hundreds of people, I suppose-"

"Well I kissed you infront of fifty, but you didn't burst into tears, did you?"

A ringing silence followed this statement. Harry looked quickly down at the ground, embarassment spreading hastily across his face.

Even without looking at her, Harry could tell she was smiling wistfully, "Ah- but that was because at the time I was more... _agreeably engaged." _she whispered.

Harry met her gaze, at which point the only thought occuring in his mind was- _"You know, I'm sure if I asked Voldemort nicely he might, you know, overlook the fact we were together. With persuasion I'm sure he wouldn't murder her just because I'm in love with her..."_ His brain stopped momentarily, lingering with hope at this thought, then suddenly it exploded-_"Hey- **HANG ON -**Harry- what was that? They'll be no "L" words spoken in my presence, thank you very much."_

He gasped outwardly at his thoughts, and looked guiltily at Ginny incase she had somehow heard them. She was now however clutching her hand in pain, it appeared she'd been so distracted by their conversation a swan had taken upon itself the opportunity to gnaw at her wrist, and it was suprisingly effective. Ginny let go immediately, and the swan flew blindly into Harry's chest, knocking him flat.

The winded feeling he'd received was nothing compared to the effect that thought had produced, though.

With Ron still declaring he was going to go and live in the Dark Forest with Grawp, and Hermione barely being able to speak three words without bursting into tears, things weren't exactly peaceful at the Burrow. The situation was somewhat worsened therefore by the arrival of two howlers within the space of an hour, both addressed to Hermione.

The first, which Harry was quite shocked hadn't arrived sooner, was predictably from Fleur- who, although Bill had calmed herdown considerably, was still fuming that so much attention had been stolen from her. After over half an hour of violent French words being screamed at Hermione's door (**"C'ETAIS ABOMINABLE!"**) the red envelope finally burst into flames, and everyone removed their hands from their ears in relief.

The second was more of a suprise, and it's arrival brought with it great curiousity from more than Harry. As it landed by Hermione's door Harry heard several creaks from the stairs below, and looked down to see Fred, George, Mrs.Weasley and even the neighbour who attended to the garden leaning casually aganist the banister as if they did it everyday.  
"Hermione?" Ginny called, speaking directly into the door, "Bad news- you've got another-" but it had opened before she could even finish the sentence.

The familiar awkward voice of Viktor Krum filled the room, and within seconds Hermione had scrambled off her bed and released all of her locks with considerable speed so she could poke her head out of the door to listen. The last time they had seen Krum was his hasty departure from the Burrow directly after the wedding, without a single word to anyone. Despite the fact the Howler was loud, it was by no means angry, and Harry listened along with everyone intently at what Krum had to say.

"Hallo Hermininny... I hav been vanting to speak vith you, but I know the only vay you vill listen is if you haff no choice- you haff not replied to my letter. I repeat to you: it is clear you are not happy vith what happened- I am still offering you the chance to live vith me- do not be afraid to anger the ginger boy vith brown spots covering his face, I know he cannot mean to you anything, or you vud not haff run away after... I vill speak no more of it. I vill be vaiting for your decision. Viktor."

As it crumpled into a pile upon the floor, Harry watched the paper twist in complete shock. Hermione... live with _Krum_?

"Well. That's it then, really, isn't it?" The voice was a deadly cool. Harry jumped in shock and turned to see Ron, who had appeared from his bedroom somewhere throughout the Howler.

"I wouldn't want Hermione to be scared of me or my _brown spots_ now would I?" He indicated to his freckles dismissively. Hermione, who Ron was deliberately gazing in the opposite direction from, let out a strange whimper, and stepped forward. Ron began talking again before she could progress any further.

"Oh well. Who knows? With his Quidditch ability, and her brains, they should create such a superhuman child to even outdo _your _fame, Harry. Don't think I'll bother attending the Christening though, I wouldn't want to_ infect_ it with freckles or anything..." Ron's voice cracked, and he turned quickly into his room, slamming his door behind him.

Harry went almost automatically towards the door to comfort him, but he was beaten to it. To his suprise, he was shoved forcefully out the way by Hermione, who with blazing eyes stood infront of the door and screamed, "_PROPELLETUS!"._

With an immense creak Ron's door unhinged itself and slammed ungraciously onto the floor. Ron stood, mouth open in astonishment directly facing Hermione's livid face.

"Want to know something, Ron?" She began, failing miserably to keep her voice collected, "I don't often send a pack of flesh-eating canaries to attack someone. Nor do I steal my friend's invisibility cloak to visit any _random_ person who's just been poisoned in the early hours of the morning, every day for about two weeks."  
Harry thought now was perhaps not the best time to reproach Hermione was stealing his things, although he was feeling fairly annoyed at the fact she had.

"I especially -" Hermione continued, her voicing raising to an even higher pitch, " don't stop doing homework that has to be in the _next morning _just to go and watch any old person practice at a game I utterly loath! So do you _honestly_ think, that I would go and live somewhere where I would be forced to stop torturing myself in these ways? Because you see, based on that evidence I- Idon't think I could."

The tears which Hermione had done so well to contain now came flooding silently down her cheeks, and she started to walk slowly back into her room, stopping only to softly call down the stairs-

"Mrs.Weasley?"

There was a pause, until a shaken reply drifted up the stairs- "Er- yes, dear?"

"I'm very sorry about the door."

"Oh! Don't worry, it needed... replacing..."

Ron, who hadn't said a word, brushed past Harry and situated himself in Percy's old room, complete with brand-new door to slam.

"Well- that was effective." Ginny said simply, rolling her eyes at the fact they were once again facing two firmly shut doors. "Harry, I don't think I can take much more of this- the desire to Bat-bogey hex both of them is growing stronger day by day..."

"In which case," said Harry, a grin spreading across his face, "We may have to speed things up a little..."

**Well, that was fairly boring. BUT hopefully the next one should be better, however I start school again tommorow GROAN and therefore couldn't writeChapter(...8 is it? Gosh!)tonight, as it's now 1am and I have still yet to write 2 essays and one 2-page monologue that has to be learned off by heart and performed tommorow morning. Well, it's my own fault, I've had six weeks... but still! This is so much more fun!**

**Yet again I praise yee, reviewers of joy! I've had a rotten day and it cheered me up so much with all the support you've given me- I therefore apologise this chapter's kind of lame, but it needed to be put in, in order to get to the last bit... I think theres only 1 or 2 chapters to go now... hmmm.**

**Thanks so much again, I promise when I'm done with this cafaffle (thats an interesting word...) I'll return the favour.**

**Have a fantastic day,**

**cinnamonturkey x**


	8. Confessions

**WARNING:THE WORLDS LONGEST CHAPTER ALERT (Well, in actual fact it's probably not, but it just SOUNDS so much better than 'kinda long', so I thought...ok fine, I'll hush now.)**

With a look of triumph, Harry pulled out the glass container and watched Ginny's thought process as she examined the clear liquid. Curious, then confused, followed by a look of realisation and then-

"That's BRILLIANT, Harry! Where did you get it?"

Although it was such an obvious question to ask Harry hadn't been prepared for it. His gut clenched horribly, his mouth went dry, and a sudden undesirable hot prickling feeling in his eyes emmerged until he was forced to turn away. _' Not now,'_ he thought desperately,_ ' not infront of Ginny. Just answer her.'_

Ginny had been observing him closely, and shrewdly perceiving he was in difficulty became suddenly fascinated with a moth on the ceiling.

"His... will. Dumbledore left me tons of...stuff." Harry croaked finally, still not trusting himself to face Ginny, not until he'd distracted himself from thinking about...it.

Seeing his desire to move away from such a subject whichshe knew must haunt him constantly, Ginny said in the brightest voice she could muster, "We'll only use a little bit of the potion though, it might be useful in the future.Only enough for fifteen miutes or so- and we can do it now, Mum and Dad went to visit Lupin for the afternoon... ooh this is going to be so very plesant to watch!"

"Do my ears hear something to do with mischief making?" George questioned, his head appearing around the corner.

"Without our aid too, George! That hurts Ginny, such betrayal- you've wounded my _soul." _Fred said dramatically, clasping his chest.

"Oh, shut up!" Ginny grinned, "Who says we're being mischevious?"

George raised his eyebrow, it was only then Harry realised that could have been taken the wrong way.

"What she means is, er, 'who said we're planning something?', not that Ginny and _I_ were doing things or anything... we were just...planning..." Harry trailed off, his face now a violent shade of crimson.

Ginny gave him a look that seemed to say, _'They don't know anything about us, don't worry-" _but even if they hadn't known before, Harry's face was now resembling a sunburnt tomato, and this appeared to have made them somewhat suspicious.

The twins exchanged an evil grin, but to Harry's relief it was followed only by "So, what is it you're _scheming_ then?"

Ginny and Harry glanced at each other, and made a mutual, silent agreement. After all, it seemed far too cruel to deny Fred and George of such a treat.

"Well..." Ginny began slowly, phrasing her words carefully, "You may have noticed odd things occuring between Hermione and Ron recently-"

Fred opened his mouth in exaggerated shock, "Our ickle Ron and Miss Granger? But that's absurd, whatever gave you that idea? Surely it's perfectly normal to have screaming matches-"

"Break down doors-" interjected George.

"Kiss after almost killing each other at someone else's wedding..." Fred continued,

"...Then cry _continuously_ about it for_ weeks_ afterwards..." George rolled his eyes.

"You mean that was her _crying_?" Fred gasped in amazement, "I thought she was trying to make her own manual swimming pool up there."

_"Alright, alright!" _Harry grinned, pulling up the bottle again from under the table for them to see. Both identical eyes widened immediately.

"Veritaserum! Ahh, Harry- we've taught you well-" George patted him proudly on the back, then moved closer to examine the potion.

Fred had his eyes closed, as if he was savering this moment, "the possibilities..." he whispered gleefully.

"It's just we're bored of this whole... _thing_ now, so we thought a little truth potion couldn't hurt to speed things along a bit-" Harry began, but it appeared the twins had deduced this already, seeing as they were now in a frantic whispered discussion. Eventually George removed the potion from Harry's grip, and turned to Ginny-

"Go get Hermione. We'll be ready when you come back. _Just_ Hermione, ok?"

This simple instruction appeared harder to tackle than first thought. Hermione was still firmly incased amongst an array of locks, bolts, and repelling spells that only she could release. Harry doubted if even Nearly Headless Nick would be able to float through walls so highly protected.

" She certainly won't come out by just asking-" Ginny muttered to Harry, standing outside Hermione's door, "-So I'll have to use more _persuasive _techniques. Then again how do I do that without Ron hearing?" She seemed engrossed in her own thoughts, until a grim smile formed across her face.

Moving closer towards Hermione's door, without warning she took a large intake of breath, and then screamed.

Now, Harry had heard some pretty awful screams throughout his life, but Ginny was obviously_ extremely_ talented in the art, for hers was amongst the most piercing he had ever had the misfortune to hear. He staggered back in suprise, amazed that someone so small could make **that** much noise, and clamped his hands firmly over his (now surely burst) ear drums. She finally stopped almost casually, as if she had merely yawned, and waited.

Within seconds Ron burst from Percy's room, looking wild- "Whats going on?" He said in alarm, moving towards Ginny with considerable pace.

"I lost Arnold." She replied simply, without a trace of embarassment, causing Ron to stare at her in disbelief for a moment before exclaiming angrily, "You screamed because of that stupid Pygmy Puff?" He snarled, "One more stunt like that Gin, and I'll- I'll-"

"You'll what? Slam more doors?" She snapped. Ron gave a colossal grunt, then stormed back towards Percy's door, and without thinking, slammed it shut. Within seconds he opened it again, gave her a look to say _'Don't even think about commenting on that'_ and closed it, carefully making sure it made no noise this time.

The silence followed by Ron's departure was short lived. Several clunks and whirring sounds indicated Hermione was trying to depart from her room, and finally she wrenched it open, gasping "What's wrong Ginny? I heard you screaming!"

Harry turned to witness Ginny's explaination, and was astounded to see in the few short seconds between Ron's departure and Hermione's arrival, Ginny had made herself cry at a staggering rate. Hermione rushed over immediately to console her, Ginny sobbing softly-

"It's- it's Arnold!" Ginny wailed, winking at Harry over Hermione's shoulder, "I saw Crookshanks chase him down the stairs, and Pygmy Puffs get _tired_ easily, Crookshanks has obviously-" She paused for dramatic effect, "EATEN HIM!" and with that she burst into a fresh round of tears.

Hermione made soothing noises, and spoke quickly "No! Honestly, it'll be fine- you didn't exactly see Crookshanks eating-"

Ginny wailed again for good measure, causing Hermione to stare dispairingly at Harry, before trying to speak over Ginny's racket. "We'll go down and try and find Arnold- I'm sure Crookshanks wouldn't of- been near him. Come on, now- it's OK-" and, leaving Harry absolutely amazed behind them, Ginny was led down the stairs, giving the occasional sniff as she went.

When they reached the kitchen, Fred and George were sitting innocently at the table, sipping casually at pumpkin juice.

"Ah- just in time- Ginny, Harry, we've poured you each a drink." Fred explained, indicating to two Goblet's on the table, "and Hermione too! I think we've got some spare, haven't we George?" With a nod, George got up and poured an extra goblet, placing it directly infront of Hermione. She was, out of anxiety for Ginny, distracted however, and looked as though she was going to decline until-

"LOOK! HE'S ALIVE!" Ginny gave an uncharacteristic squeal, and pointed to the floor. Bumbling from side to side was Arnold, who Harry noted moved so slowly he would have done well to outrun a cat which had been the victim of a leg-locking curse, let alone a fully mobile Crookshanks. Hermione however, was looking too relieved the fluffy bundle was mobile at all to be aware of it's speed.

"I think that calls for a celebratory drink!" Fred suggested, clearly having no idea whatsoever of what Ginny was talking about, yet he seemed remarkably keen for Hermione to have some pumpkin juice, and Harry suspected he knew why.

Sure enough, within seconds of Hermione taking a gulp of her drink, her expression loosened until she stared blankly infront of her. George tested she was truly affected by the potion by poking her in the eye a few times (she didn't even blink), then turning to Harry he whispered "We haven't got long- go get Ron..."

Harry didn't need to be asked again. Sprinting up the stairs, he arrived panting at Percy's door. He thought for a minute, then deciding he would never possess Ginny's creativity, opted for a less complex method of extracting Ron. Thrusting open the door, he grabbed the object of his mission, who was looking amazed at this suprise invasion,and started pulling.

"Oi! Harry!_ Gerrof_ me-" Ron struggled to remain in Percy'sroom, and scrambling forward managed to clutch a bedpost. After several tugs, kicks and even bites, Harry doubted all the Quidditch training in the world would have given him enough strength to remove Ron from the bedpost, and he gave in.

"What's so important you want to drag me out?" Ron snapped, nursing the bruises Harry had just provided him with.  
A stroke of inspiration suddenly came to Harry, and he pondered for a split second whether Ginny had sent him subliminal messages.

"You've got a gift from your Aunt downstairs,a signed picture of the _whole _Chudley Cannons team!"

Ron's eyes widened in momentary suprise, then he narrowed them again- "Why would she send me a present?"

Harry paused, then without thinking spurted out- "Your birthday!"

Ron looked confused, "My birthday's _months_ away, Harry-"

"Well.. yes, it is," began Harry, his brain searching desperately for an explaination, "...Ginny did mention however, that her mind was a bit messed up, maybe she got confused... anyway, come down and see!"

"But-" Ron continued, and Harry gave an inward groan, " Which brain-addled Aunt do I have who has contact with the _Chudley Cannons_?"

Harry, having little knowledge of Ron's vast collaboration of relatives, tried fervently to remember any from the Wedding that had seemed even slightly odd.

"Your Aunt Paula, ofcourse!" Harry replied unconvincingly-knowing perfectly well no such Aunt existed.

Miraculously however, Ron seemed convinced at last. "She must have been the one with the purple hair who kissed me _twice" _He thought aloud, with a twinge of disgust in his voice, and he finally began down the stairs, Harry following him with sigh of relief.

"Wait!" Ron suddenly stopped abruptly, his eyes fixed upon Hermione's open door, "_She's_ not there, is she?"  
Harry, who was by now very tempted just to punch Ron, knock him out, and heave him downstairs just to avoid anymore questions, replied quickly-

"No, ofcourse not. She went with your parents to visit Tonks and Lupin." Ron seemed suprised, but to Harry's immense relief asked no more questions.

As Fred spotted Harry coming down the stairs he grinned widely- the complete opposite to Ron's reaction when his eyes settled upon Hermione. He turned accusingly to Harry, "Thanks alot, _mate" _He sneered, and began storming back up the stairs, when George, who seemed to have anticipated this move, said calmly, "So Hermione, how do you feel about Ron?"

Ron froze, looking horrfied.

"I'm so confused about him." Replied Hermione's detached, emotionless voice.

Fred rolled his eyes, "wow- what a revelation- we'd never have guessed that one. Be more specific George, otherwise we'll have run out of time before she's managed a complete paragraph..."

Ron seemed to have joined reality again- "Run out of time? Have you got her under some kind of spell or something? Because that's not funny, it's obvious she's lying..."

"I'd wonder how, seeing as it's Veritaserum- unless ofcourse like _some_ people, Hermione can't tell a love potion when she sees it, and we've dosed her with it. Then again, noone would be so stupid to take _that_ potion, eh Ron?" George sniggered.

Ron merely scowled and settled himself down on the bench, staring oddly at Hermione, as if he were afraid she would suddenly jump up and attack him. Harry vaguely observed how Ron had a full glass of Pumpkin juice by his place on the table too, before George spoke again-

"Hermione, is there anything concerning Ron Weasley you would like to tell us? Any confession to make?"

Hermione didn't speak from a moment, then she opened her mouth automatically and stated " Every morning whilst she was going out with Ron I'd bewitch Lavender's hair to make it look absolutely awful, because I thought that's one of the things Ron didn't like about me, my ugly hair. I hoped he might go off her a bit because of it."

Harry was uneasy. That was probably the most un-Hermione-like comment he'd ever heard, it was so strange to hear her inner thoughts, and for the first time he felt slightly uncomfortable with the whole idea. She was by no means finished however-

"I realised I liked him in the third year, when Sirius Black pulled him into the Whomping Willow. Sirius Black turned out to be innocent though, although he'd been put in Azkaban for-"

"Yes, yes-" Fred interrupted impatiently, "We know- what was it you were saying about Ron?"

Hermione paused briefly again, then- "When he disappeared I was sick with worry- I would have been for anyone ofcourse, but my vision went kind of blurred and all I could think about was what I couldn't tell him if he died, and the answer was that I liked him. Ofcourse, at 13, I didn't know it was any more than like- but that was the first time I realised." There was a short silence, but Hermione had one final thing to declare- "Then recently, Ron was stuck to the ground with loads of arrows from this Cherub he'd angered," A small smile creeped up the sides of her face, "I knew exactly the spell to lift them without touching Ron... but I just wanted to see his boxers..."

Ginny gaped, Fred and George burst into roaring laughter, yet Ron had reached an all-new level of red, and Harry was tempted to throw his Pumpkin juice over him just to cool him down, for fear he might melt from embarassment. Yet behind the mask of deep red, Ron's eyebrows were raised in shock- and uncontainable joy.

Seeing this as a good sign, Harry pressed her- "Hang on, you just said you didn't realise at the time it was 'more than' just liking him- what does that mean?"

Everyone stopped laughing, and turned to Hermione expectantly. Ron waited with baited breath, a look of daring hope covering his face, and finally she spoke-

"I-I..." but confusion was etched into Hermione's countenance now, which could mean only one thing-

"She's coming out of the potion!" Fred announced, and then turned to Ron, studying him, "Unless you want her to see she's just pronounced her undying affection for a betroot, Ron, I'd drink some liquid and cool down."

Ron suddenly came to his senses, and obeying Fred's orders he downed the full goblet next to him.

Hermione sat in stunned silence for awhile, before finally mouthing "_Oh my goodness" _, and looking absolutely mortified. Guilt surged over Harry, he would have hated the same treatment... to have all his thoughts spilled out to his closest friends, it made him feel sick. He met Ginny's eyes, and knew she was feeling the same- but Fred and George seemed insensitively unmoved.

"If you work in the buisness Harry, you've got to learn to stop getting emotionally attached-" George explained seriously.

"You make it sound as though you work in killing house elves" - Hermione had recovered her voice apparently. Along with her anger. Picking up her goblet, which was still quite full, she tipped it's contents forcefully over George's head. She then turned to Ron, her voice a deadly whisper-

"You let me say that! Infront of everyone- I- I can't believe I-"

"Yes, I did." Ron replied, his voice oddly distant. On closer examination, he was sitting with a dazed look on his face.  
Realisation dawned on Hermione, as her gaze fell upon Ron's empty goblet. She turned to Fred, who looked extremely relieved Ron had drank it all, otherwise it might have now be covering his head.

"Have you- to Ron_- have you_?" Hermione spluttered with fury. In response, Fred leaned in towards Ron and asked,

"So Ron, how did you feel about what Hermion just said?"

"I wish she hadn't come round at that point, I wanted her to finish what she had to say."

"Why?" Asked George, a grin sliding accross his face.

"I hoped she might say the same about me that I think about her."

"Which IS?" Fred was looking decidedly impatient.

Harry on the other hand, now believed that feelings of the level he thought Ron was on the brink of declaring were best confessed when the person was truly aware of it. Therefore, before Ron could answer he jumped in with another question- "Have you ever done anything stupid because of Hermione?"

The twins looked scandalised, but Ginny gave Harry an appreciative smile.

A faint grin appeared on Ron's face. "Yeah. I used to deliberately get tons wrong so she'd have to do my homework, an innocent reason to watch her..." Harry cringed onRon's behalf,"and in our second year I tried cursing Lockhart to make his face covered in pimples, just after he'd erased his own memory- she'd sent him a valentine's card..."

Hermione produced a small squeak.

"-And everytime I play Wizard's Chess I imagine the opposite side is Krum, getting smashed to pieces... She's in love with him or something... I hate that- she said I had the emotional range of a teaspoon once. I remember that. That hurt." The grin faded and was replaced by a definate frown.

"You've liked her since our _second year_?" Harry said incredulously, amazed he hadn't recognised it until the forth.

"Yeah," Ron began, still frowing, "When she got petrified. It was such a weird feeling, like-"

"Enough." Hermione said quietly, and Harry agreed with her inwardly. They sat in silence, Fred and George seemed to be bursting with questions-

"Can we ask him ones that aren't _directly_ about you?" George pleaded, "Like where he keeps his box of unsent love letters or something-"

"Under the floorboards in my room." Ron replied automatically. Fred had darted halfway accross the kitchen, heading it seemed for that hidden floorboard,before Hermione commanded him to stop. Although as she turned away Fred exchanged a look with George that seemed to represent they wouldn't forget it in a hurry.

Minutes passed, and finally Ron returned to normal, wearing an expression identical to Hermione's when she was in the same situation. Neither spoke, but they stole glances at one another. This time however, they seemed to want to speak, just had forgotten how to work their voice boxes. Harry had hopes they soon might not object to respiring in the same room.

Optimistic at this sight, and unaware of the fact Fred and George were looking at him intently, Harry took a long, satisfied gulp of his own pumpkin juice.

Then all at once, a calm peace descended on him, and his mind went blissfully blank..

**AND TO THINK, I'd said "Only one chapter to go". GAH! It's just that I suddenly think of something ridiculously unimportant to put in, but I slot it in anyway... madness!**

**REVIEWERS! I WISH YOU JOY!(Ok... I just make a strange noise of glee and my sister walked by... hmm.)**


	9. When pigs fly!

**Yeah... erm, so you know how I said there would be one chapter left? Well... lets just say this IS the last one... it's just been split into more than one chapter, that's all...**

**...sorry! I just wanted the final FINAL bits to be on Ron and Hermione alone...**

Harry watched in a docile fashion as Ginny's face expressed the utmost horror.

_"She seems distressed. How very bizarre." _He thought to himself plesantly, unable to grip onto a single thought for more than a few moments. He heard Ginny speak as if from a great distance away, and for a moment pondered on whether he should be feeling alarm, but then a strange sense of relief swept over him and this drifted away, his mind became blissfully blank once more.

"NO! That's not fair- how _DARE_ you?" Ginny screamed, pulling out her wand and pointing it directly at George, who was making no effort to hide his mischevious grin,"Not ONE question to Harry, do you understand? Not _ONE!"_ she pounched infront of Harry, as though this would somehow stop him speaking.

"Don't like it so much now, do you Ginny? Not so much fun when it's you that could be humiliated, is it?" Hermione taunted, smirking cruelly.

Had Harry been in a position to note the expressions on the faces surrounding him, he would have seen the twinkle igniting in Fred's eye-

"Yet why, Miss Granger, should my dear sister be humiliated by anything Harry has to say? Surely they are merely innocent acquaintances?" Ginny flushed and looked desperately at Hermione, trying to gain some sympathy. She received none.

With a dreamlike lurch, Harry realised dimly that he was being moved. Ginny was tugging rather persistantly at his arm, trying to support him up the stairs. Unfortunately, Harry's brain was completely concerntrated on...not concerntrating. His limbs had therefore decided there was no point in even attempting to move. The pair finally collapsed on the floor, Ginny struggling under the weight of Harry's passive body, which was now staring idly at the ceiling.

"So _Harry_," George began in a casually triumphant voice, "What're you thinking about right now? Anything in _particular?_"

"The ceiling." Harry replied, his mouth slightly agape.

"Once again George, you demonstrate the questioning ability of a flobberworm," Sighed Fred, heaving Harry off the floor.

Harry gazed in Fred's direction, observing in his mind as he did so, _"Hey! His hair is shiny...and ginger -that's SUCH a weird colour..."_ before collapsing back in his seat. Ginny had by this point staggered back to a standing position, her wand positioned tightly in her grip. Fred examined her fierce face, and smiled patronisingly,

"Now, now, ickle sis- no underage wizardry for you!"

"Yeah, because with about ten adult wizards livng in the house the Ministry'll _easily_ guess it was me!" She snapped sarcastically, satisfied to see a glimmer of fear pass through the twins' eyes.Her expertise at the Bat-bogey hex remained fixed in their minds, and this seemed to silence their original reply, until they concluded reluctantly-

"Fine. We swear. Not one question to Harry."

Ron looked furious, "What? You'll let them off the hook just like that? With all you put us through?"

Fred nodded sadly, "Alas, we've promised, and Fred and George are honourable to their word." Ron scowled and caught Hermione's eye indignantly. They then however both realised the reason _why_ they were indignant, and looked as far away from each other as possible.  
Still not quite satisfied, Ginny decided it might be best if she removed Harry from the area as soon as she could drag him away. The twins watched peacefully until she was almost out of sight, Harry lolling limply beside her, then quickly questioned in unison-

" Harry, what's happened between you and Ginny?"

Having suspected something of this sort was about to happen, Ginny was prepared, and with lightning reactions clamped her hands firmly over Harry's mouth, howling bitterly, _"YOU PROMISED_!"

It seemed as though George had been awaiting this accusation. He stood up, explaining serenely, "and we kept our word- not one question." He pointed to himself, "I asked one..." he pointed to George, "He asked another. They just happened to be at the same time...so that makes..." he mimed counting on his fingers," why, _TWO_ questions I believe... "

Had one hand not been on Harry's mouth, and the other involved in the difficult process of supporting Harry's body, Ginny may well have hexed her twin brothers into ginger mush, but was forced to substitute this for a muderous stare.

Harry in the meantime was undergoing a strange feeling. The question had pierced sharply into his mind, he could think of nothing else- he had to answer, there was no other option. A strange, vague feeling of uncomfort floated somewhere in the back of his mind-

_"I'm not sure whether it would be good to say this...No, no...I don't think I will, thanks. It seems kind of private-"_

His mouth however had made the decision for him. It opened forcefully against Harry's will, and his voicebox automatically starting making noises, which Ginny tried desperately to cover up. With a mere tickling charm however, Ron gleefully removed Harry from Ginny's clutches, leaving her squirming momentarily in bouts of giggles. Harry's voice, distant yet certain, filled the kitchen. He seemed to have been talking for some time under Ginny's silencing hand, and was in mid-flow by the time he was actually heard-  
"It's been months since we've broken up now- well two, and a few days. I had this funny thought the other day though, it was really odd."

Fred looked like the whole of Gringrott's had been donated to him, "Ho ho! You went OUT, eh?" He cried gleefully.

Ginny had recovered from the tickling attack, and was searching fervently for her wand, a look of pure madness covering her freckled face. At that point the door opened, and everyone (except Harry, who had just become slightly aware he had a nose and was wondering what it did) turned to see the arrival of Mr and Mrs.Weasley, accompanied by none other than Lupin and Tonks. Everyone paused, and whilst Mrs.Weasley registered the shock of seeing Ron and Hermione in the same room, George exchanged a desperate look with Fred. As soon as their schemes were discovered by Mrs.Weasley, they would be foiled. Fred leaned in quickly, urging Harry onwards-"carry on, keep going- you had a funny thought? What about?"

All four newly arrived heads turned sharply to Harry, expecting the news to be something concerning Voldemort, with no idea of Harry's current condition. Hermione and Ron grinned quickly at each other despite everything, and Ginny groaned. Protests were futile, and she knew it. Her only hope remained that it wouldn't be too disgraceful- it might, she thought doubtfully, not even be about her-

"I was outside, with the swans then it- appeared. The concept that I was in love with her."

Silence. Harry's voice seemed to accept this as an invitation to continue:

"I actually just said to myself, "I love Ginny" That was odd. Very odd. Problem is, the idea's stuck, and it won't leave. It's strange. Then a swan knocked me over. I hurt my left butto-" He stopped -it seemed his voicebox was not working automatically anymore.

Harry's dazed eyes passed unaware over the fact Mr.Weasley looked like he'd swallowed something large, and did not notice Mrs.Weasley bursting into joyful tears, sobbing "I- can't believe- so w-wonderful!".

Suddenly however, his mind started getting a little less hazy- he semi-understood Lupin's eyebrows were raised and his mouth was twisted in a small smile. He became more aware of the expression Tonks was wearing, her mouth open in a small "o" shape.

Harry's brain jilted once more, his awareness increasing with it. A sense of colossal dread settled on him, yet he wasn't quite sure why- he saw Hermione and Ron frozen in positions of amazement- but for what reason? It was only when he'd passed the smug looks on the twins' faces, and settled on Ginny, standing on her own, looking pale, small and almost frightened,that the memory of what he had just done hit him like four hundred bludgers.

"_Oh no. No."_

Ron and Hermione looked at him with satisfaction, yet their faces were more compassionate than before- not that it mattered to Harry at this moment, whose mind was in utter turmoil.

_"Run! No wait, explain to Ginny- lie- no- RUN! You can't run...I have a better plan... RUN!"_

Following his mind's advice, he bolted for the door, escaping in just enough time before the explosion of confusion, laughter and exclaimations from within the kitchen could be heard. Harry involuntarily strained his ears, and with a sickening lurch realised Ginny's voice was not amongst those celebrating his revelation.

After weighing out the choices, Harry had decided it would be too risky to try and steal his invisibility cloak, for fear of meeting someone before he found it. He had therefore taken to hiding in the Weasley's horrifically smelling barn, surrounding by several winged pigs, who had been locked in for a reason, as Harry found to his cost. The creatureslittle abilityofremaining still, and had taken to flying into Harry at every possible opportunity.

Several hours and many Stupefied pigs later, Harry was aching and hungry- the idea of illegally apparating to get his invisibility cloak was becoming more attractive with every passing moment. Suddenly the barn door creaked, and Harry flung himself behind the mass heap of stunned pigs, clutching his nose to avoid retching at the smell.

Within moments, a face appeared grinning down upon him, it's bright pink head bobbing with laughter.

"Wotcha, Harry!" Tonks grinned, settling herself down on a particularlylarge pig. Resigned, yet amazed at the fact he'd been discovered, Harry peered upwards, weakly mumbling-

"How'd you know I was here?"

She smiled kindly, "No offence Harry, but when I search for Dark wizards every day as a job, a ridiculously embarassed teenager is easy to find. That and you dropped your glasses outside the barn door."

Ah...So _that's_ why the pigs had seemed like unusually vivid pink splodges.

"Listen Harry, it might not make you feel better, but the way Remus found out _I _liked him was worse."

"No offence Tonks, but I really can't see how. Unless ofcourse you burst into the middle of an Order of the Pheonix meeting and declared your undying love whilst wearing Ron's old dress robes..."

Tonks turned bright red. Harry stared in disbelief- "That's what you did?" He said disbelievingly.

"Well... if you remove the part about Ron's dress robes, then yeah" She muttered,bringing the pigs back to conciousness as a method of distraction. As they stirred in confusion, she sighed and grimanced reminiscently-

"Strictly speaking, this is Order buisness, so I shouldn't really say- but- well, because I'm a disgrace to her family,a year and a bit ago... Bellatrix Lestrange placed a curse on me whilst I slept. It was some twisted amusement for her, a treat for escaping Azkaban or something... anyway, it convinced me they'd...they'd killed R-Remus." Her voice cracked as she said it, the memory still apparently painfully clear. She recovered quickly at Harry's concerned face, and quickly reassured him, "Members of the Order have protection, Harry- within minutes the alarm was raised and Bellatrix fled- but I was still convinced what she'd made me see was true- so I apparated to outside headquaters, completely disregarding security issues, ran inside, and threw my arms around Remus mid-way through Podmore's report on the Prophecy... To this day I'm referred to as the love crazed loony witch by everyone."

Harry chuckled slightly at her explaination, but couldn't shake the huge weight in his stomach. She looked at him sympathetically, "You know, Harry- all four junior Weasley's have been magically locked in their rooms for now, you'd be safe to go back in, I'm sure Molly wouldn't say anything..."

"Why?" Harry said in amazement, the humiliation now mixed with the guilt that he'd caused everyone to be punished.

"Well, Molly found out that the twins had conducted, erm," She worked hard to conceal a smile, "unfair trickery upon you, so they were sent to their rooms. That was ofcourse after they'd recovered."

"Recovered?" Harry questioned fearfully.

"From the twenty or so jinxes Ron and Ginny placed on them, yes." Tonks finished, her shoulders shaking with repressed laughter. "They resembled orange Hinkypunks by the time Ginny had finished, she sent so many spells around the room it looked like an indoor firework display."

Tonks came and sat gently on the floor next to Harry, her face serious all of a sudden, "Listen Harry- I know you're only trying to protect her, but time's short- and, let's face it, none of us know how long we're going to be around, _especially-"_

"me." Harry finished darkly, the full weight of his life resting on him for the first time in a long while.

"All I'm saying is, you can try to hide it from you-know-who by all means, but feelings don't disappear just because you've broken up, and he'll know that Harry. He'll know how you feel- and the fact you aren't with her won't stop any actions he might take." She got up an examined Harry's thoughtful expression, before adding, "and besides, I hear you've been doing quite a bit of effective planning concerning two certain people...it would be a shame to stop now, wouldn't it?"

It took a few moments for Harry to realise who she was talking about, then he opened his mouth immediately to ask how Hermione and Ron had reacted to one another. Tonks seemed to anticipate his question, and sighed.  
"Hermione apparated once Fred and George had been...dealt with. Haven't seen her since."

Harry shook his head in exasperationand stood up, shaking himself to remove variousstrands of hay and pig swill.

"Thanks, Tonks" He said gratefully, moving towards the door.

"Oh- Harry- before you go, will you do me a favour? Before you talk to Ginny, have a shower."

With a grin Harry took her advice, and headed towards the Burrow.


	10. Invisibiltyfriend or foe?

**Nay... tisn't the final chapter...still. But ahhh well, I've given up predicting them!**

It took four showers to fully remove the horric smell of the barn, but eventually Harry's scent was presentable enough. Despite knowing it never would work, he'd spent an hour painstakingly trying to flatten his hair, eventually turning to enchantments to try and solve the problem. Yet misfortune has a way of choosing the worst times to strike, as Harry learnt to his cost.

Hermione finally reappeared just in time to hear Harry give a cry of alarm and rush past her into the bathroom- his hair covered in flames. She peered around the door just as Harry had dunked his head into the sink, and as the hissing sound of the fire extinguishing finally ceased, she walked over and examined the consequences.

"Well," she said, in a comforting voice, "At least the bald patch on the back of your head vaguely resembles a unicorn, and Ginny loves them... it'll be an endearing quality..."

"Oh, very funny!" He said weakly, trying desperately to twist his neck and examine his own scorched scalp, "-hey! How did you know this was for Ginny?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Well, unless you believe You-Know-Who has possessed your hair Harry, I can't see any other reason why you'd end up burning it off- but I assure you, she's quite fond of it the normal way..."

Harry merely grunted in response, and turned in dismay back towards the mirror. Remembering his hair had been completely removed once when he was much younger, and then had miraculously grown back, he clamped his eyes shut and whispered in his head-

_"Grow, PLEASE!"_

He opened his eyes warily to see... that he was still almost bald.

"Great!" Harry muttered angrily, kicking the sink in annoyance. He'd forgotten one important thing. In the Burrow, it was a general rule that objects often fought back. Which is precisely what the sink had in mind. Harry and Hermione scrambled out of the bathroom and forcefully pushed the door shut just in time, before a large crash could be heard from inside. It appeared the sink had violently thrown itself towards Harry, thankfully missing it's target.

They stood out in the hallway, panting, before Hermione finally stated exasperatedly, "_Only you_ Harry, could get into a fight with a _washing facility."_

Harry merely glared and pointed to his hair in distress. Suddenly an idea came to him-

"Hermione, you're _brilliant _at sorting this kind of problem..."

"Hah!" She scoffed, "You expect me to help _you, _after what you willingly put me through?" On examining Harry's expression however, her face softened a little-

"Are you nervous about speaking to her? You know, after...before."  
Despite the butterflies that were smacking into the lining of his stomach at every possible opportunity,Harry shook his head- "Not really- it has to be done, doesn't it? It's just ridiculous to be stuck in limbo when you both know there's something going on, isn't it?"

Harry had indirectly aimed this at Hermione herself, and sure enough she had taken his hint. She looked in doubt at the floor, before mumbling-  
"it's not as easy as that Harry."

"You're right," He said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow, " There's just no comparison in the difficulty between admitting to someone you like them and- oh I don't know-destroying parts of someone's _soul_ for instance..."

"Oh Harry! You know what I mean-Ron and I are best friends, I don't want to ruin it!"

With an irritated sigh he grabbed her shoulders, and looked sternly at her face. "I'm sorry to say this Hermione, but it gets a tad beyond best friends when you want to kiss their face off. You wouldn't want to see ME in my underwear, now would you?"

She looked disgusted and shuddered slightly.

"My point exactly." Harry said resolutely.

They stood in silence, Hermione biting her lip thoughtfully. She looked up and suddenly burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry!" She gasped, "I j-just can't take you seriously when you look like that!"

* * *

During the next half an hour Hermione set about fixing Harry's hair to it's previous state in her room. On the good side, with each incantation from Hermione's wand black hair shot out in large clumps. However, with each fresh clump of hair being produced also came the sensation that someone was forcefully yanking it out of Harry's skull, and Crookshanks had fled on several occasions when Harryhad yelped loudlyin pain. 

With an encouraging smile from Hermione and invisibility cloak in hand, Harry had finally clambered out of her window and mounted his Firebolt, which purred with glee at the fact it was being used after such a long time. He floated carefully over to a long, wide window to the left of Hermione's room, and knocked softly on the pane of glass. The light flicked on, the curtains swished, and Harry's stomach gave a tremendous lurch as-

...Mrs.Weasley flung open the window, looking puzzled in bright pink fluffy slippers. Incredibly thankful that he was wearing an invisibilty cloak big enough to cover his broom,Harry backed away slightly as Mrs. Weasley poked her head out and squinted into the dark sky.

" I swear I heard something, Arthur!" She whispered frantically, "You don't think the Death Eaters...?"

"Worry not, Mollywobbles-" Said the sleepy voice of Mr.Weasley, "I dare say a Death Eater wouldn't knock to announce their arrival..."

Not entirely satisfied, Mrs.Weasley firmly shut the window and Harry held his breath until the light went out once more.

_"RIGHT- you idiot!" _He reprimanded himself, quickly directing his broom in the opposite direction,_"Ginny's room is to the RIGHT of Hermione's..."_

He tapped tentatively on the second window, and this time the light remained turned off. Harry was just beginning to wonder if she was downstairs with Ron, when the window gave a large creak and opened slightly. Harry inched closer, and had just recognised Ginny's small face peering out when-

_SMACK!_

Ginny had flung her fist out wildly, and it had hit Harry forcefully in the stomach. He let out a large 'OOF!" before almost toppling off his broom, the invisibilty cloak sliding from his shoulders and curling round the Firebolt's handle. At the appearance of Harry's head, Ginny's eyes widened in horror and she clamped her hand over her mouth-

"Sorry!" She groaned, desperately helping him through her window, "I didn't know it was you!"

"Oh?" He muttered, clutching his stomach tenderly, "get invisible visitors frequently, do you?"

She laughed, but soon her face became serious. It was then Harry recalled why he was there. The pain of Ginny's punch was substitued for the clumsy buterflies who were pummeling his stomach at such a terrific speed he pondered whether it might be possible to Stupefy them in an attempt to somehow calm himself.

"Right-" He began. "-Right." He finished. Apparently that was all he could manage.

Ginny however had inched closer, and taking the invisibilty cloak she wrapped it around Harry and herself.

"I don't want to hear your protests, because I know that's what you've come to say-" she whispered softly, her nose touching his. He tried to correct her, but it seemed his voice box had retired for the evening. She took this as an opportunity to continue- "but listen to me. What you said before... well, me too, basically. Probably for a lot longer than you as well. Do you hear that? Voldemort can try all he likes, but I just might jump infront of him and save him the bother of finding me if I'm not trying to help you... by _being _with you, Harry. So... for the present we're invisible to everyone," she said,indicating to the cloak surrounding them,"and we can try stay that way. Invisible maybe, but there's no waywe're going to be non-existant, do you understand?"

"You do realise we can't walk around under this cloak constantly,don't you? Who knows how many times we'd be sat on?" Harry replied seriously.

"I meant we can try and hide it from everyone you-" she stopped when she saw the grin appear on Harry's face, and hit him playfully, "Oh funny. Very funny."

Harry, resigned to the fact his voice was suddenlyon strike until he did what he'd been wanting to do since they'd broken up, leant in and kissed her. A good few plesant moments followed this until he broke away, suddenly remembering-

"Quick, we've got to go and see what's happening!"

"What?" Ginny questioned, a look of confusion crossing her face.

"I have a vague suspicion Hermione might actually _act_ on her feelings tonight" Harry replied, pushing Ginny out of the room, checking to see they were stillconcealed under the invisibility cloak.

Ginny chortled slightly, "Well I hope she does soon, before Fred and George can achieve revenge for all the spells Ron performed on them this afternoon. They had that look- the look that tells me they have something planned that will cause them great joy, usually at the expense of someone else..."

Harry briefly thought on whatthe twinsmight do, but by the time they'd reached Ron's door he was still at a loss for how Fred and George could possibly humiliate Ron any more. When they entered silently, Ron was dissapointingly alone, engrossed in the process of ruffling his hair manically. He stopped, examined himself in several poses (causing Harry to almost choke from repressed laughter), and then looked at the door nervously. It was only when Ron had taken a good few strides towards them that Harry realised they would collide at any moment, and stepped hastily to one side. Regretfully, this resulted in a large squeak from the floorboards. Ron froze, and then growled accusingly, "Harry? Is that you?"

Harry was debating whether to reveal himself or not, when all of a sudden the choice was made for him. With a largesweeping actionRon clutched Harry's knees, causing him to topple on Ginny and form a small heap.

"_How long have you been there?_" Ron hissed venomously, leaning over the pile they'd formed on the floor.

"Long enough," Ginny said, grinning despite the fact her neck was twisted under Harry's arm in a position that was definately not normal. "Going somewhere Ron?"

Ron opened his mouth widely as if he were about to make a very hostile remark, when a soft knock was heard at his door. Looking like he'd been Petrified, Ron stared at the door with his mouth frozen in shock, apparently unable to move. Ginny gave him a firm kick forward, and then threw the cloak around herself and Harry once more. They'd just managed to huddle into a corner when Hermione's bushy brown head appeared, nervously peering up at Ron's face.

"Hello." She squeaked, inching into the room.

"Hi." Ron replied, his voice reaching an alarmingly high pitch.

"Just-wondered-if-you-wanted-to-go-for-a-walk." Hermione stuttered without pausing, directing her question it seemed to the floor.  
Ron paused, the thought of even slightlymoving seemed impossible to him at present, yet alone full mobility.

"Yeah, ok." He mumbled, and with a relieved look, Hermione turned quickly and marched towards the stairs. Ron stopped before he left, hastily rotating towards the corner in which Harry and Ginny were placed. " Don't even think about moving!" His demanding tone suddenly vanished, to be replaced by a pleading whimper, "Please, please don't." With that he hurried after Hermione.

Neither of them spoke until Ron's thuds on the stairs were out of earshot.

"Well," Ginny sighed, "Better respect their privacy."

"Oh, definately." Harry agreed, nodding firmly.

Then in unison they threw the cloak over themselves and headed after Ron, Ginny stopping momentarily to pick up a pair of extendable ears.


	11. Fred and George REVENGE!

Harry and Ginny had just figured out a method to getting down the stairs together without tripping over the cloak, when voices halted their progress. The moonlight glimmered across the Weasley's kitchen, outlining the silhouettes of two identical bodies staring out of the window. Trying to make as little noise as possible, Harry and Ginny inched forward. As they moved closer, Harry noted a large, dishevelled box under Fred's right arm, the moonlight illuminating the word "PRIVATE!" stamped clearly on the top- in Ron's handwriting.

"Ok Fred-" George whispered, after peering out of the window for a moment, "they're seated. How long d'you think it'll take for the first one to get to her?"

"It should be along any minute now..." Fred chuckled, patting the box affectionately. Ginny was so curious as to what they were plotting, she absent-mindedly moved forward to have a closer look.This caused her to slip on a piece of trailing cloak, and she slammed ungraciously onto the stairs. Both Fred and George turned around hastily to examine the noise, but on seeing no one they shrugged, George casually adding-

"You did make sure Mum's bedroom has a sound barrier around it, right? I'm sure she heard a knocking sound earlier..." Harry blushed in the darkness.

Fred rolled his eyes, "Of course I did, idiot. Did it just a minute ago, but we needn't have worried. Dad was snoring so hard I think even if the Ghoul in the attic had bounced on their bed, it wouldn't have woken them."

George replied lightly, "Good good- as long as she can't hear we can just sit back and relax-AHA!" He sprang towards the window gleefully, "I think the first one's just arrived- look!" It was Harry's curiousity that needed to be satisfied this time, and he stood on tiptoes to look over Fred's shoulder and out of the window. Something small was bulleting towards two blurred figures sitting under a tree.

Harry instinctively grabbed Ginny's hand and moved quickly towards the door, managing to slip unnoticed into the garden due to the many delighted outbursts from Fred and George, who were merrily congratulating themselves that something was about to occur.

As they darted towards the distant figures under the tree, Harry saw both stand quickly, gazing at an object suspended above their heads. Before Harry even had time to think on what it could be, the question was answered for him. In a burst of noise that pierced the silent night, Fred's voice filled the air, adopting a ridculous tone- he was high pitched and squeaky as he spoke.

"They've sent him a _howler?_ He'll hardly be scared, will he? Especially with that ridiculous voice!" Harry whispered, but Ginny raised a hand to silence him and waited in anticipation.

"This can't be it. You should know by now Harry, Fred and George maintain a certain quality in their actions- there's got to be more to it..."

They stepped even closer to Ron and Hermione- finally listening to the words being shouted into the night:

"Hey Hermione, it's just Ron here..." Quoted the squeaking Fred, as if reading from a letter, "You've just been Petrified, by the way. Well.- you'll probably know that I suppose... because you won't be able to read this until you wake up, I guess. Anyway, just wanted you to know, that we want you to get better soon. _Really_ soon. I mean- me and Harry. Both of us, obviously. It's been weird without you, even that git Lockhart seems more entertaining when you aren't here... oh- _brilliant, _I can hardly send this to you now, can I? Why is this taking so long to write?"

By now they were close enough to see the real Ron's face, which was utterly horrified as he jumped up desperately to silence the howler.

"Hermione!" He pleaded, swiping at the red envelope with his wand,"Stop the bloody thing! Don't listen-_help_!"

Hermione looked intently at the envelope, as though she would have very much liked it to continue, then with a sigh at Ron's mortified face she moved forward, and raised her wand- "Don't worry, it's an animate object so in theory the silencing charm should work-"

"I don't care about THEORY!" Ron yelled insanely, "Just STOP IT!"

Barely trying to conceal a smile, Hermione calmly recitied, "_Silencio!"_ and howler was subdued, the envelope moving wordlessly. With a sigh of relief Ron thanked her, batting the howler ferociously into the tree they were standing next to.

"I'm...going...to..._kill_...Fred...and...George..." He snarled, his teeth clamped together tightly. Hermione squirmed, obviously desperate to speak. She finally burst out-

"Was that from the lov- the bunch of letters under your floorboards?"

Ron grimanced, and mutely nodded. He opened his mouth as if the was going to add to this, when he suddenly observed something in the sky. A red something.

_"NO WAY!" _He groaned, jumping up once more, but the second Howler had already burst open-

"Hermione, you've COMPLETELY missed the point," Yelled Fred's angry, yet still squeaky, imitation of Ron, "I don't care if Krum, that _total and utter_ moron, took you to the Yule Ball. At all. Infact I haven't even thought about our argument, because _you're_ the one with the problem. He's obviously using you to get to Harry, yeah...you're just _so _gullible. Well, don't come crying to me when it all goes wrong. Well... maybe you can cry a little bit to me. But don't think I'll forgive you, because I won't."

There was a pause.

"Much."

**_"SILENCIO!" _**Ron roared, stopping the Howler at once. Before he'd even had time to remove it, a third one fell at his feet, ready to burst at any moment. Harry saw Hermione casually slip the silent Howler under her jumper, indicating she would save it for another time.

"Ron?" She questioned, looking anything but concerned, "How many letters did you have in this box of yours?"

"Oh," Ron replied weakly, sending silencing charms in every direction at the flurry of Howlers that were now decending upon him, "a good few hundred, I'd say..."

Hermione responded by beaming, unnoticed by a harassed Ron, who was now up to his knees in close-to-popping howlers. Hermione secretly stowed away as many as she could fit in her pockets, then with a flick of her wand sent sparks of purple towards all of the scarlet envelopes surrounding them, making the mass of Howlers explode instantly.

As silence settled upon the garden, Ron whispered a grateful "thanks" before collapsing on the floor, exhausted from the sudden attack, but thoroughly relieved it was all over.

Or so he thought.

It seemed Fred and George hadanticipated Hermione's ability to remove the Howlers, and had come up with a backing scheme. Suddenly a fizz errupted from the Weasley's kitchen window, and a giant firework flew into the sky. Surprisingly to all, however, it did not explode, but carefully began to write in bold, sparkling words that contrasted starkly against the dark sky. Ron's uneven, scrawling writing was being copied onto the sky above them.

"I spent ages looking for it. I even sat next to a load of giggling third year girls _four_ nights in a row so I could figure out what kind of perfume you'd like. I came out of that muggle cosmetic shop smelling like the Divination classroom, and for what? 'Thanks for the perfume Ron, it's _unusual' _Unusual?Repulsive, more like."

Hermione's face was relfecting the golden firework as she gazed, unable to speak, at the sky. Tears glistened in her eyes as she turned to Ron, who was looking at his feet.

"I've used that perfume everyday since, haven't you noticed?" She said softly, her eyes still transfixed on Ron's face.

"Well, yeah-" He muttered, shifting his feet from side to side, "but you kind of had to, didn't you? What with me around all the time..."

"Of course that isn't the reason!" She cried earnestly, placing a hand on his slumping shoulders. They realised simultaneously they'd made physical contact. Both froze.  
"Well," Ron croaked,as Hermione removed her hand quickly from his shoulder, "If that's all we wanted to discuss, then I'll just be off to bed and-"

"Wait!" Hermione clutched his hand to stop him moving. Yet again they both stopped, staring down at their clasped hands as if they were covered in undiluted Bubotuber Puss.

"Yes?" Ron questioned, his voice intolerably high.

Hermione whispered something, staring at the ground.

"Huh? Didn't catch that-" Ron said, leaning his head forward so he could hear her.

"I-" She stopped, finally forcing herself to look at him," I think you're- you're wonderful Ron."

Ron screwed up his nose slightly, seeming to take this comment as a sympathetic compliment, rather than Hermione's inability to express her feelings properly.

"Thanks." He said shortly, stuffing his hands into his pockets grumpily. "I suppose you think I'm 'sweet' too, that I deserve some _other _girl who'll 'appreciate me for who I am' and all that rubbish."

"What?" she said her voice raising a pitch,"Don't be ridiculous, no other girl would appreciate you-"

"Oh, _thanks_." He interrupted, turning towards the tree.

"-**_LIKE I DO,_** YOU IDIOT!" She finished, her whole body shaking in anger, "Understand? No one else would- would appreciate you like..." She trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

Ron's voice had changed to a tone Harry had never heard before. "You value me?" He said quietly, sounding like a House Elf that had just been asked to sit down.

"You know I do." Hermione whispered, drooping her head so that her face was engulfed in a mass of frizzy hair.

"Even though I'm not a world class Quidditch Player?"

"Yes!" She looked up sincerely.  
"Even though I'm rubbish at most things, have ginger hair and, as dear Viktor likes to call them, 'brown spots' covering my face?"

_"YES!" _

"Even though I'm not Harry Potter?"

"Oh for goodness sakes, now you're being stupid!" She said, exasperatedly.

"You didn't answer the question-"

"I shouldn't NEED to! Why do you have to be so ridculously suspicious all of the time?"

"Why do you ARGUE with me all the time?" Ron yelled.

"BECAUSE YOU ARGUE WITH ME!" Hermione shouted, her fist clenched in a tight ball.

"THATS ONLY BECAUSE I FANCY YOU!" He hollered, infuriated.

"WELL ASK ME OUT THEN!" She screamed.

"_FINE_! WILL YOU?"

There was a ringing silence. They had been so annoyed with each other neither had realised what they were saying. Until now. The writing in the sky faded, leaving them covered in darkness.

"You know," Harry whispered in the lowest voice possible to Ginny, "I don't think they can admit anything unless they're about to destroy one another... can you imagine? Ron'll have to strangle her before he plucks up enough courage to propose..."

Ginny made a tiny shushing noise, and they waited.

Out of the darkness, Ron's voice hurriedly spoke- "just forget I-"

"Yes." Hermione interrupted, answering the question in an amazingly steady voice,"Ofcourse I will. If you _honestly _want to, that is..." She sounded unsure, as if she was afraid Ron had been placed under the Imperius Curse.

Harry didn't need to see Ron's face to tell he was staggeringly surpised.

"Yeah, I do!" Ron replied, in a dazed, dreamlike voice. "I suppose we better, you know, officially confirm it then..." He added, looking at her quickly, as if asking her approval.

Hermione gave a small "Oh!" as she realised what Ron meant, then replied matter-of-factly, "Yes, I suppose we'd better."

Harry held his breath, waiting for Ron to move in and kiss her. Apparently however, Ron's legs had become separate from his body during the last few moments, and he didn't seem to have much control over them. He finally took one step forward, then stopped again, quickly mumbling-

"I'm sorry about, erm- last time, by the way. Didn't quite mean for it to happen like that..."

"I didn't mind it all that much, to be honest." Hermione was grinning slightly now, "quite nice, now you mention it..."

"Even if I was so mad I almost crushed your face when I did it?"  
"I was a bit preoccupied with the fact you were doing it _at all, _to really notice the details, Ron." Hermione blushed furiously.

Now Harry's eyes had become accustomed to the renewed darkness, he saw that Ron and Hermione were facing each other, yet they still stood about three metres apart, looking like they were cemented to the ground. Ron was leaning forward, like he _wanted _to move towards her, just couldn't actually make his legs function.

Ginny sighed impatiently, then pleaded "Listen Harry, I'd like to spend my life doing other things apart from waiting for them to kiss- can't I intervene?"

"There's a time to intervene, and this isn't one of them," Harry whispered wisely, "Give them a second."

They gave it a second. Then a few minutes.Then _several _minutes.

"_Oh fine_, intervene." Harry sighed, aware that his legs were now turning numb from cold.

With a contented smile, Ginny moved forward until she was directly behind Hermione. She then forcefully kicked the back of Hermione's knees, causing them to buckle. Hermione flew forward with a gasp, Ron catching her at the last minute.

"It's a cliché, I admit," Ginny stated, as she moved back so they couldn't hear her, "but effective nonetheless."

Sure enough, Ron gave an embarassed laugh, as he stared down at Hermione, who still looked suprised she had suddenly found herself in such a position.

Finally however, he lifted her up slightly, and she kissed him softly on the lips.

The second this had happened, the unexploded firework in the sky errupted, making a thumbs-up sign in bright gold. Hermione started and stared up in amazement, Ron on the other hand laughed when he saw that underneath the firework flashed the words:

"HURRAH! JOY! RAPTURE! GLEE!... _FINALLY_!"

**OK... I know that was quite a jolly lot of dialogue- I think I'm going to have a "rounding off chapter" after this yet. (Chapters, chapters, everywhere!)**

**Reviewers! THANK YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (and that's A LOT of "O"'s, so you know I mean it...)**

**cinnamonturkey x**


	12. Nhah!

Ginny and Harry had stood for a few moments, watching Hermione and Ron celebrate their newfound lack of restaint.

Very quickly however,the kissing couple had progressed from a slight peck on the lips, and both sets of eyes under the invisibilty cloak widened in disgust.

"It is frankly_ disturbing_," Harry whispered, "That Hermione should know how to kiss like that."

"You think _that's_ weird?" Ginny cringed, "Try watching your own brother eating someone else's face."

They turned silently, leaving Ron and Hermione to their activities, which luckily provided such a distraction that even as Harry slammed into the Weasley's kitchen door, neither the frizzy, nor ginger head looked up to see what was wrong. Unfortunately, they weren't the only people Harry and Ginny should have been wary of.

In her carelessness, Ginny pulled off the cloak on entering the kitchen, so they were fully visible when they suddenly found themselves facing Fred and George. Suprise lasted only briefly on George's face, before it cracked into a wide grin. "Why, justlook who we have here Fred!"

"Surely you two haven't been _spying?" _Fred gasped in exaggerated shock, "Why, what would Hermione and Ron say if they knew you'd heard the whole of their conversation?"

Harry's stomach lurched. Both would hate him, he knew it.After everything he'd done this really would be the last straw. The image of Ron casting a spell on the Howlers to give both Ginny and himself infinate papercuts made Harry gulp loudly, and he turned to Ginny in desperation. Her face however was calm.

"How do you know we were listening? Harry and I were just taking a walk." She said simply, pulling off her shoes and placing them neatly by the door. It was then she noticed in horror that she'd stood on one of the silent Howlers, which had inconviently stuck to the bottom of her left shoe.

This hadn't escaped Fred and George.

"Gin, we're reasonable, and let's face it, fairly_ fantastic_ brothers, so we'll strike a deal with you and Harry. You do one favour for us, and we'll never tell Ron or Hermione you were there."

"_You_ _were watching too_!" Harry said furiously, knowing that any favour for the twins could lead to little good.

"Ah," Fred replied slyly, "Watching- yes. Helping the process a little... maybe. Yet we never _heard _the professions of undying love and such..." Harry winced.

"How is it," Ginny hissed angrily at the twins, "you manage to find a way out of _everything?"_

"A mixture of genius and charm, dear sister." George smirked, "Now- the favour. Our little brother entering into romantic bliss is great and all, but we might be able to squeeze one final shred of entertainment from the situation- with your help of course."

Harry's hopes that the favour would be a small one were quickly fading. He almost fearfully questioned, "Why do you need us?"

"Harry, Harry, _Harry_." Fred sighed, "Picture the scene- you've just found out the person you've fancied for years returns your affection, and all is joyful. But wait! What will your best friend say when he knows you're dating his OTHER best friend?"

Harry smiled triumphantly, "Sorry- that won't work. Ron knows I'm fine with it."

Fred continued unabashed, "How does he know you haven't changed your mind? The thought of them being glued together all the time in your presence must be a little sickening, and you could _drastically_ oppose the idea now..."

"Surely you've put them- _and us_- through enough?" Ginny pleaded.

"You did hex us quite _briskly,_ Ginny- it's going to take time to get over that."George said woefully, "We need compensation. So... we're agreed? You have to make them believe you hate the idea- for a little while." He shook hands with Harry quickly.

"It's been a pleasure doing buisness with you both." And with that the twins strolled up the stairs to bed.

Ginny and Harry stared hopelessly at each other.

"Fantastic." Harry muttered to her bitterly, "and there was I thinking we might be able to _enjoy _the rest of our time here."

* * *

_Tap._ Ouch. That hurt. _Tap._ Stop that. _Tap._ STOP! 

Harry had finally woken enough to realise he was being prodded forcefully in the back of his head. He was about to swipe his hand back to prevent the pain from being renewed, when he heard a familiar whisper:

"_Ron!_ Don't wake him deliberately, we've got no idea what we're going to say yet!"

"What's there to say?_ 'Harry, I spent last night snogging our best friend.'_ Then you say the exact same thing. He'll understand soon enough."

Harry heard a playful slap being issued behind him, "Ron, we can't blurt out about us- well, you know-"

"Snogging? You're going to have to say it sooner or later Hermione..."

"_kissing, _then." She stated firmly. "Harry's going to think it strange enough that I'm your girlfriend-"

"Still can't get over that..." Ron sounded alarmingly giddy. It was with a squirm of despair Harry recalled what he'd been asked to do. He was slightly less distraught however when Ron abandoned all subtle methods and kicked Harry firmly in the back.

"**Ugiohoff-OUCH**!" Harry yelled, rolling over to escape Ron's hefty foot.

"Oh! Awake, are you Harry?" Hermione said nervously, biting the nail of her thumb.

"Apparently so." He replied shortly, rubbing his back in pain.

Now that Harry was awake, Ron's confidence seemed to have failed him. He sat on the bed, grinning awkwardly and casting the odd glimpse at Hermione for reassurance. She smiled encouragingly, and so finally he began-

"Harry, mate-"

"Breakfast!" Harry annouced quickly, hating himself for prolonging their uncomfort. He leapt up and ran down the stairs, glaring at Fred and George as he passed them, who were holding extendable ears above the kitchen steps and giving him 'thumbs-up' signs. Ginny greeted them all blearly-eyed, it appeared she'd had little sleep trying to think of ways to get around the plan, yet to no avail.

Breakfast passed in polite silence, with the occasional confused look passing between Hermione and Ron. As Ginny nibbled on her final piece of toast, Hermione turned to her, casually suggesting-"I think we should go for a walk."

"Why?" Ginny said quickly.  
"To... appreciate the day." Hermione replied,obviously using the first excuse that came to her, seeing as it was pouring with rain outside.

Ginny declined at least five times, but in the end, with an apologetic glance at Harry,she was dragged from the room to "examine the wonderful structure of the barn."

There was silence in the kitchen. Ron chuckled nervously, then started to talk once more. Loathing himself, Harry interrupted yet again:

"You know, don't be too disappointed that things didn't work out with Hermione. You aren't speaking again, I noticed it just now, but to be honest Ron-" Harry had to force the rest of the words from his own mouth, "- I don't think it was such a smart idea in the first place. I mean, it'd be disgusting, the thought of you two together. You wouldn't...mix."

Ron's face fell immediately,and it was awhile before he could splutter- "Seriously?"

His tone of voice was enough to make Harry want to confess everything, but he was prevented from doing so by the abrupt arrival of Hermione slamming the kitchen door. Her hair was glued to her face as a result of the rain, yet her eyes were blazing.

_"Well!_" She fumed, before running up the stairs. Ron hastily stood up, and with a final downcast look at Harry, followed her.

Ginny appeared shortly afterwards in the doorway,conveying the essence of misery. "I- told her it would be really strange for me if my brother went out with a friend of mine..."

They stared at each other despondantly as Fred and George bounced down the stairs, looking thrilled-

"Do try and cheer up, you two- the fun bit starts now-" George said lightly, patting Ginny on the head.

"And which part," Harry snarled, "could that be?"

"Making them painfully uncomfortable, ofcourse."

* * *

Over the next few days Harry, by direction of Fred and George,stuck to his best friends like glue. By Wednesday he'd found them twice in a cupboard, five times hiding behind the pile of pigs in the barn and even once on the roof of the Burrow, which they'd reached through Ron's broom-despite Hermione's hatred of flying. They'd been so desperate for privacy she'd had no choice. 

Each time Fred and George would be watching, doubled over in silent laughter, especially as Ron tried to make up excuses-

"Oh, Hermione was so sure one of the flying pigs had swallowed her _Ancient Runes_ textbook, she needed someone to...erm...check. You know- a real _man_."

Hermione's snort in response to this did not reassure Harry it was a genuine story. This was nothing however compared to when Harry opened the barn door one time to hear a strangled yell, see a blinding flash of light, and a clearly fake scream issue from Hermione.  
"Oh, I'm _so _glad it's you Harry- someone's Stunned Ron!" She exclaimed theatrically, "I was just walking, and I found him lying there!".

When Ron came round he seemed more annoyed than alarmed he'd been Stunned. The fact Hermione's wand was lying next to him on the floor gave Harry a shrewd suspicion as to why this was.

The situation was getting ridiculous, and by the time Ron had stuttered his seventh- "Harry! This isn't what you think...Ginny must have _jinxed _our lips to stick together or something- isn't that disgusting, Hermione? For us- _friends- _to even contemplate...well, it makes me feel sick... right Hermione? I'll kill Ginny for this... yeah." Harry was all but fed up, and was ready to confess to everything just so he wouldn't find the pair kissing 'secretly' in his wardrobe when he went to fetch some socks.

Thankfully, with a contented grin, Fred informed Harry they'd stored enough memories of Ron in embarassing situations to last until he was fifty, and that he could stop whenever he wanted, "-that is ofcourse unless you want to keep going... Ron does such stupid things that he could make even a Goblin roar with laughter."

After Harry informed Ginny of their freedom, the pair bounded down to breakfast the next day ready to express their glee that Ron had found a girlfriend he actually _liked. _As they descended the steps however they were met with a mass of redheads- Mr and Mrs.Weasley, Fred and George, and even Bill (looking very tanned and freckly) sat in silence staring expectantly at Ron, who was standing infront of them all.

"Oh heck." Ginny mumbled.

"Er-what's going on?" Harry asked tentatively, pushing in between the twins.

"Ron's got an, erm, announcement to make- he wanted to wait for you two to get here first though" George said loudly, his voice wavering with repressed laughter.

Ron, appearing extremely awkward, coughed slightly, then stated formally, "Everyone, me and Hermione have some news-"

"We really should just say we agree with the whole thing before he makes a long, rambling speech to everyone-" Ginny whispered frantically.

"We've known each other for a, erm, long while, and we think that we- well. I think I-"

He paused. It was evident he'd been practicing this-

"Love her." He let out a huge breath of relief, as if he'd been winded by a bludger.This statement caused Hermione to come nervously out from behind the Weasley's cooker, and grip Ron's hand tightly. Both looked directly at Harry, as if they dared him to disapprove.

Mrs.Weasley, who had been sitting rather confused, now jumped up in excitement, "Oh _Ronnie_- another wedding! I can scarce believe..." and she ran up to a suprised Hermione and smothered her in a colossal hug.

Ron frowned in confusion for a moment, then with a gasp of horror realised what she meant- "**MUM**! _NO!_ We're only seventeen! How could you-I mean we- this was just to say we're _going out!" _He emphasised, sweating profusely. Mrs.Weasley looked decidedly put out.  
"Oh- well, yes dear we all know _that_..." She trailed off, shaking her head in disappointment.

"You- you do?" Hermione whispered, her cheeks flaming red. Mr.Weasley supressed a chuckle, and patted a very embarassed Ron proudly on the back,before departing for work. Harry finally decided to answer Hermione's question-

"Yeah...and we're ok with it, don't worry- although I would advise against Stunning Ron every time you're discovered by anyone..." It was now impossible to tell where Hermione's red face ended and Ron's hair began.

* * *

Finally there was peace at the Burrow- to a certain extent. Ron and Hermione acted fairly normally around Harry, allowing only the _occasional_ difference: 

"Honestly, it's not as if I _only _think of her." Ron would assure him, before gazing solidly at Hermione for half an hour whilst Harry tried to make the slightest bit of conversation.

"You'll hardly notice anything's changed," Hermione commented, yet as this was declared whilst she was playing idly with Ron's hair, Ginny cast a disbelieving look at her.

It was on discovering the two couples lying peacefully on the grass one evening, that the twins leaned over, George clapping his hands together-

"Well Fred, what's the next project?"

"I'd say a good rest is needed first, after all the work we've put in George, although I'm not sure how they'll cope without our guidance-"

Ginny scoffed loudly in response.

"-Then how about we work on this _Wedding _Mum's so keen to have..."

George gazed thoughtfully at Ron, whose ears had twinged pink, as he gave a fleeting, nervous grin at Hermione. She intertwined her fingers with his in response, smiling shyly.

"Ugh! We'll have our work cut out for us on that one,Fred- Ron'll need at least fourty five butterbeers before he'll even c_ontemplate_ muttering the word 'engagement'..."

"Give it a few years at least- for my sake!" Ginny pleaded, lifting herself from leaning on Harry's stomach- "I barely coped with Bill's wedding mayhem- can you _imagine _Ron's?"

**Okay fine folk of the fanfiction realm! sorry it -**

**a.) took so long to update (I blame essays, my inability to focus formore than five minutes, andtroubled friends who have just split with their boyfriends- gah!)**

**b.) is a bit of a mish-mash ending ( I briefly contemplated this whole dating/ "lets go after the Horcruxes" story to be attached to this- but blimey- how do you make destructionof Volde's soul fit under the Humour/Romance section... imagines Voldemort getting dosed with love potion for Mr.Filch, as they tapdanced merrily amongst Pygmy Puffs- I think you get the point... :S!)**

**I thankyou soooooooooomuchfor reading this (if you've made it this far, I offer you...erm. Applause!) - it makes the fact it's two O'clock in the morningand I have a stinky essay to do still less annoying!**

**Thanks again!**

**Cinnamonturkey x**


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